I've previously summarised this as "never trust a techie in a suit." Another way to look at this has nothing to do with conformism. Whereas a suit says "I feel

I've previously summarised this as "never trust a techie in a suit." Another way to look at this has nothing to do with conformism. Whereas a suit says "I feel the need to dress to impress you", casual wear says "I don't need to dress to impress you, that's not why you're going to hire me". I have noticed a recent trend towards a sort of hipster dress code, but I'm hoping that's just a transient thing that doesn't catch on. Traditionally, the hacker dress code has been more about not caring what anyone thinks than either trying to stand out, or to fit in. I tend to follow that principle, and will perhaps go with smart jeans and a jacket for more formal meetings. There are however, environments where you're just expected to wear a suit. You have a choice of either avoiding those environments altogether, or just bite the bullet and wear a suit. Unless you are specifically trying to be non-conformist. The book "The Bluffer's Guide to Consultancy" advises that a consultant should always wear the opposite of the established dress code, so people will fear and respect you. Therefore if you are going to an office where everyone wears suits, you should dress casually. If you are going somewhere casual, you should wear a suit. It further suggests that if you are going to both types of office on the same day, you should dress as a farmer :)