[Neliquat]

This is an easy way to drive away talent. Myself, and I feel, many others, would gladly take a similar job where the culture and dress were relaxed, instead of fixed. The fix is to hire socially competent people, and be clear to them when they are pushing it early and often.

[huffmsa]

"Naw man, I'm not going to work there because I _need_ my bedazzled dungarees to code well."

Please.

[ceras]

It wouldn't stop me from joining a company that's clearly better than the rest. But engineers have a lot of comparably good options in hub cities, so it's reasonable to be picky about small stuff - we can afford to be. A formal dress code does have real downsides: it (1) costs money, (2) wastes closet space (it's a premium in NYC!), and (3) makes biking to work or otherwise living a pre-/post-work active life more of a pain.

[huffmsa]

The mistake you're making is that "work clothing" needs to be separate from your "after work clothing".

NYC there is no excuse for not finding good and reasonably priced tailors.

You might get dirty looks from those who look worse than you, but suits do in fact make the man.

[sudosteph]

Here in Seattle absolutely everyone would give you dirty looks. I don't trust anyone in a suit, and I don't think they make a man look anything other than sleazy.

Different cultures, different perceptions. Tech culture as a whole does not share the NYC mentality that suits are a reasonable norm. Dress codes just don't jive with a need for authenticity. Give me the weird guy wearing a kilt over the slick sales guy in a suit any day.

[ceras]

I'm fairly active and don't care for feeling hot in the summers or restricted in general. Feel free to rock your own suit, but it's not a "mistake" to disagree with you.

[st3v3r]

Most other things being equal, and they usually are, I'm going to take the job with the more relaxed dress code.

[stale2002]

A dress code is a red flag.

It is not about being forced to wear clothes. It is about working with a management team who is so incompetent that they would do something so stupid as implement a dress code.