I took off my jacket but I was still in a tie at a job interview at a place that hit hot on all start-up stereotypes. (Simple example: someone blasted the theme to Indiana Jones over the speaker system during my code-pairing session.)

I 100% stuck out as a sore thumb, but that was okay. I considered the three cases:

1. I should dress up and they will ding me if I don't

2. they don't care

3. I should not dress up and they will ding me if I do

I'd be right in 2 out of 3 cases. And in the third: well, flushing people for doing what is expected of them by a large fraction of the community is crazy, so it's good to find out.

(No, I didn't get the position.)