I grew up in Houston, TX which has always been an ultra-conservative city, full suit and tie in the middle of a Texas summer. I've never been one for clothing

I grew up in Houston, TX which has always been an ultra-conservative city, full suit and tie in the middle of a Texas summer. I've never been one for clothing fads which is why I stick to button downs, sport coats, jeans, and nice leather shoes. During a recession it's more cost efficient: my leather shoes polish up a lot nicer than tennis shoes and last much longer. I have button-downs from 2001 that still look great. I also save a lot of time by receiving a lot better customer service when I'm eating out, shopping, or running errands. People respect a well dressed man, there's nothing superficial about it. I'm not saying you can't wear a shirt when you're coding, but the moment you're representing your company and it's people — you should look (and therefore feel) very proud. Toss on a sport coat over the designer tee, it won't kill you to look nice. And not to mention, when you congregate a bunch of designer-tshirt-wearing coders in a room, are you really expressing individuality anymore? :)