Whether you need a C-stand or not does not depend on the type of photography you do, but on the type of accessory (light or other) you intend to use. Putting a heavy light with a large modifier on a stand that's just borderline capable of supporting it is playing with fire. In a quiet and very controlled environment like still life, where no one is likely to intrude upon you and you can avoid jerky, sudden movements, you can probably get away with it, until something unforeseen happens (Murphy's Law) and your heavy and costly light falls and breaks, perhaps breaking some other piece of gear and/or hurting you or someone else in the process.
C-stands (the serious ones made by Century (original make), Avenger, or possibly a Chinese knock-off by Neewer) are very sturdy and stable, they are used by professional crews on all serious shootings worldwide, including feature films, and are therefore nothing like bling and bluster. They are costly but the one you buy will be with you forever. They are heavy but as you're doing still lifes, you will not be lugging yours on a hiking trail. And they fold conveniently flat, which makes them easier to stow away. You can even take them apart very easily if you want to.
I have two C-stands, a regular one and a low-boy. I also have good quality "boom stands" (Manfrotto and Avenger), but those are not quite as reassuring as the C-stands. I would advise you to get one, which you can probably find secondhand somewhere. As they're virtually indestructible, a secondhand one should prove quite as trustworthy as a brand new one.
Good point about Neewer, which has gone from a re-badge operation to a manufacturer in their own right with some excellent products.
The world has changed. The best boom arm I've ever had, branded Elinchrom although I have no idea who actually made it, and bought about 25 years ago, had a parallelogram action and was extremely heavy to move around and with a price to match, but was perfect. When I was with Lencarta, we had several different offerings, from what we called the Home Studio Boom, same design as the one linked by
@sk66 but from a far better factory, we also had a heavy duty version, and a parrellogram, which was massive and which required a ceiling height of at least 4 metres.
But those days are gone. Why? They are far too large, heavy and expensive to import by air, and it takes a minimum of 6 weeks to get them by sea, which involves having the money tied up for another 6 weeks, which simply isn't viable in todays' economy, with very small profit margins. Also, far fewer people today have a studio, which means that they sell slowly and take up expensive warehouse space for a long time.
The cheap chrome-plated C stands have won the battle, because they are a compromise that suits most people, who have voted with their credit cards - a single product that does most things, but badly.
Any boom arm should be capable of being used with any flash head and any modifier, and isn't fit for purpose if it is restricted to lightweight items. I used to do a lot of fashion photography with a 70cm metal beauty dish, mounted on a large and heavy flash head, a good boom arm is essential for this, and I also used to use them all the time for product shots with a very large rectangular softbox, again fitted to a large and heavy flash head, and again a good boom are is essential for this, and I would never risk using a C stand, far too unstable with their small footprint, and with loads of "whip" which makes fine positioning impossible.
If you really want a C Stand, the only option IMO is to get one of the expensive ones that has an adjustable-height leg, perfect for uneven surfaces and which can also be used on stairs, and get one with a black finish, the chrome finish, which reflects unwanted light everywhere, is just crazy - the bling and bluster I referred to earlier - I'm just waiting for Donald Trump to produce a gold-plated one
I've gone into more detail in this tutorial
https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/tutorials/which-lighting-stand.155/
