Doesn't what you wear reflect your inner self and attitude?
Dress like a 1970s hippy and be thought one - dress like a hobo, etc., etc.
Agreed, it might not affect your professional performance but if you really want to be thought as "professional" look it and act it!
This doesn't necessarily mean wearing a tie and jacket - you can look equally smart in an ironed open-neck shirt and pressed chinos, or a decent pair of pressed shorts.
Emphasis on IRONED and PRESSED!
Why insist on wearing your gardening/workout/car-cleaning gear to work?
Personally, I think it's just an excuse for (a) not bothering and (b) being concerned about looking too much like the Management or the Establishment. But don't be stupid - whenever did you see them in the Ops Room wearing a headset??
As for the tale of a controller who 'lost' aircraft returns because they were lurking under his tie - yeh, right: and look, there's a pig established on the ILS for 27L...
