A few quotes from the Rabbi on 'Customs of Israel'
in which he teaches that there is no vanity in the Jerusalem custom of wrapping oneself in the tallit prayer shawl
There is a simple custom here, in the holy city of Jerusalem - may it be built and established, observed by even the simple folk in front of rabbis and prominent individuals, of wrapping oneself in the large tallit, observed even by young men who have not yet married.
This differs from the custom in the Maghreb, where simple folk do not wear a large tallit at all, and only Torah scholars do so - they alone wear a large tallit, no others do. This differs also from the Ashkenazi custom, where unmarried young men do not wear a tallit at all, even if they are scholars, while they are single. This is not to be considered vanity, for it has been the custom for generation after generation, and none have spoken out against it.
Sha'ar HaMifkad, Volume C, Hilchot Tzizit, paragraph 4, p. 1, Harav Levy Zuckerman Printing, Jerusalem, 1919