> If I had my way this would be considered employment discrimination and grounds for a lawsuit. I took issue with the tie stuff, myself, in another comment. I

> If I had my way this would be considered employment discrimination and grounds for a lawsuit. I took issue with the tie stuff, myself, in another comment. It's unlikely to be discriminatory, except in the case -- as you mentioned -- of things that fall into the practice of religion. It's funny, though, how different sectors view the "tie in an interview". I know of many jobs where failing to show up in a tie to an interview will end the interview before it starts. I think software development is leaning in the other direction. And it's all a bit silly to a lot of us from the sounds of it. Standards exist for a reason -- if the tie-less interviewer showed up in a swimsuit with no shirt, I'd imagine he'd do worse than the guy wearing a tie. As I mentioned in a previous comment, the issue is that someone is passing judgement on you as a candidate based on information that is unreliable to draw a conclusion from. My answer is to provide that information "My dad was a business owner and beat into my head that 'you wear a tie to an interview', plus I have far too many Jerry Garcia ties for how infrequently I get opportunities for wearing it" (I've even jokingly thanked an interviewer for the opportunity to dust off one of my favorite ties). If that doesn't satisfy my interviewer, I don't want the job. I can't manage a situation where "the rules for success" are so arbitrary/subjective that my choice to wear a very loud tie to an interview was enough to eliminate me from the selection process. Part of it is probably the Garcia ties, thinking about it. They're very stylish, but bold, so while I can wear one to a really formal event and get compliments, the mention of a tie with a loose relation to The Grateful Dead communicates that I'm not much of a tie-kind-of-guy.