I think as time goes by you'll see more companies having no dress codes. My company has this policy, the CEO wears shorts and flip flops while he holds company wide meetings. It's a trend of dressing down that's been going on for a long time now. There will always be the client facing employees who need to hold appearances, but I think over time the regular office workers will be dressing down more and more.
Not speaking about any one person here, but a common theme in these types of threads is "management blows, they promoted [insert local douchebag] over me, but I would've kicked the shit out of that job!" and I wonder if stuff like this isn't beginning to answer why that might have happened. I think we like to think it's "all about the work" but there is too much data, too much history to show that like it or not, that isn't true. If you don't care enough to dress with a little dignity, or are so sensitive that the kind of shirt you wear throws you off your game, how are you going to be in a real pressure situation?
Dress with a little dignity? Who defines that standard? People used to wear suits just because they were getting on a plane or going to a baseball game. Why'd that stop? Why don't employers treat their employees with some dignity and judge them based on work ethic and what they deliver rather than what they wear? Oh yeah, most of the successful ones have already figured that out.
Oh, ok. I remember when the internet boom hit, and the big fad was foozball and flipflops, and Jack Welch told them to go F themselves. Most of those companies are gone (or swallowed up) and GE is still one of the top 5 companies in the world, and the premier leader in business management. So, yeah, the successful ones HAVE determined what works. As for the "cubicle" thing, you still walk in and out of the building. So people see smartly dressed men and women walking into your building, or a group of kids who look like they are looking for the bathroom after a Dave Matthews concert. You'd be right if it was all about the employee, but it's not. Like it or not (and clearly you don't) you are representing. As long as that is the case, it's not your call to make.
And in any event, since you are a "FACTS" and "SCIENCE" guy, check these out:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ruchikatulshyan/2013/10/17/is-casual-dress-killing-your-productivity-at-work/https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-leadership/post/new-study-what-you-wear-could-affect-how-well-you-work/2011/04/01/gIQAssHomR_blog.htmlSo if you're about "dignity", why would you ever put your employer in the position of paying for inferior quality production?
As for the planes, well, I think we had that conversation here a while ago. That's a problem too. Nothing worse than sitting down next to some douche whose gross fungus ridden toes are now in full view (and smell) and mere inches from me. Have some decency and some consideration. The world is not your bedroom.