Do clothes make a man?

I've often been told by my wife that I should take more care of my appearance. I'm notorious for turning up for conferences wearing sandals and bush shirts. Of course, I like to dress for comfort rather than to impress people but there is some long term thinking behind the attitude.
My Uncle, Prabhakar Menon, took the Civil Services exams twice in the late 1960s. The first time, his rank was 13 or thereabouts, apparently missing the IFS (foreign services) by one rank. Instead of taking an IAS (adminstrative services) seat, he decided to decline and try again the next year. In an account of the exam by someone else, I read 'I was surprised to see Prabhakar Menon turn up for the interview in a bush shirt. I knew he had qualified for the IAS last year.' Formal attire was nearly a requirement for these interviews. Why did he turn up in informal clothes? I can think of some reasons. He may have done well enough in the exam that he was confident that he would do well regardless of his attire. He may have made a conscious decision that he wanted to be judged by his responses in the interview rather than his clothing. He may even have realised that casual attire may set him apart from the other candidates. In any case, he topped the exam and joined the Foreign Service.
I think much of our formal wear is a hangover from colonial times. The neck-tie, for instance, serves no useful purpose as an article of clothing. It was an affectation of the British and those Indians who wished to imitate the British. Similarly, the hard black leather shoes are certainly inferior in function to the open sandals in warm weather and to soft soled walking shoes in cold weather. They are a hangover from times when they were expensive and a status symbol. Wearing them nowadays makes no sense at all. For women, formal wear seems to consist of either imitating men's formal wear or wearing ornate but revealing gowns which date from a time when their only aim in life was to snare a prestigious or rich spouse. High heels seem to be an unfortunate attempt to seem taller than they actually are.
I dislike formal clothes for many reasons.

1. Wearing formal clothes for an important meeting or interview assumes that you are going to judged based on your appearance rather than on the content of what you have to say. I consciously reject this assumption and by dressing informally, insist that I be judged by the merits of what I have to say or the expertise I bring to the meeting.
2. They are uncomfortable and serve no purpose. A formal jacket cannot compete with a jacket designed for warmth. Hard black leather shoes cannot compete with sandals or sneakers in terms of comfort.
3. I am instantly suspicious of anyone in a suit and tie. They are trying to sell something, often themselves, which would not sell on merit.

Of course, it is easy to be informal at this stage of my career but this is not a new concept. I dressed informally for all my medical college exams, job interviews, US visa interviews etc. I dress informally for lectures I give, regardless of the event. This includes invited lectures at international conferences.

This is not to say that I have never worn a suit and tie. My wife flatly vetoed my notion of getting married in jeans and a T shirt. I did wear a suit on the occasion of a fellows reunion on Thomas Starzl's 80th birthday since it was made clear that formal dress was mandatory for the occasion. However, I no longer own any suits I can wear and my ties have been donated to my son for occasions when he may find that he has no option but to wear them.

Judge a package by the content rather than the cover.