[bluedanieru]

Well sure, you probably shouldn't wear literally anything you want at work, and torn or worn-out clothes are out of bounds in any semi-formal social situation anyway. So you should at least look as though you put some thought into what you wore to work and how you present yourself. Programmers might not be special, but neither is a suit and tie. A suit is not standard attire for programmers generally, and much like it would be unreasonable to demand a plumber wear one, it is unreasonable in most cases to demand an engineer wear one. Especially so when the rationale is one of those described in the article.