I love Trizle. They are the kick ass. Usually. This time though I think they missed.
The gist of what they are saying is that "clothing matters". To some people. Some people forum strong anchors to what they are wearing and as such those anchors affect their performance. Other people oddly have the opposite anchors.
I resent the *** out of having to dress up for work. Even business casual pisses me off to no end. To me wearing a pair of dockers and a button down shirt is a symbol of laziness and failure. Failure to get off my ass and start my own business because I'm too damn lazy to do the work necessary. As such I have to wear the clothes some *** in HR thinks his (or her) proles should be wearing.
First date clothes? I wore a pair of jeans. Generally speaking I live in jeans or shorts. And Hawaiian shirts were and remain the highest forum of fashion. Everything else is just a waste of time. Magnum PI rocked!
But seriously - if what you are doing is working alone in your home office then 'first date' clothes are so much BS. A comfortable pair of shorts and a t-shirt make a lot more sense.
If you are meeting up with a gang of VCs to beg money - wear a suit.
Meeting your customer who is going to hand you a sale - wear a suit.
Generally speaking if you work in a cubicle and only deal with people inside your company then clothing should be the last thing a company worries over. People actually doing their work well should be the first priority.
The next thing is this there are not a lot of skilled software developers out there. Generally we're a testy lot and things like dress codes do annoy us. Given current market conditions and future forecasts - why should a company care? Most companies don't put programmers in customer facing positions anyway. So hide them in their cubicles and let them wear their star fleet t-shirts and jeans. You might hang on to them longer.