First, an aside: Am I the only person who noticed that the guy in the picture is on a skateboard? And you're worried about his shorts?
Truth be told, there are all manner of different situations that require different types of attire. Sneakers are a case in point. The very heavy, hard-sole, steel toe and metatarsal protective boots I wear at the steel mill would be slip&fall makers in construction mud, and downright dangerous on a roof deck. In a similar manner, the 'cats paws' shoes preferred by roofers would be unsuitable inside the steel mill. Cowboy boots aren't that good for climbing- but they can't be beat if you spend all day on a ladder.
There's no denying that appearance counts. T-shirts were fine when I was just one of the crew .... but when I became the owner, I had to upgrade at least to Polo shirts. Likewise, the generic jeans had to be replaced by either BDU-type real work trousers, or khakis for sales calls.
Nobody minds Cindy Crawford in the skimpiest of swimsuits. I go to the beach, and Greenpeace tries to roll me back in
Shorts aren't for every body.
Even a short-sleeve shirt can become an issue if the man has tattoos.
My only issue with dress codes is that "safety" is often nothing but pure BS when management is really making a fashion statement. Such a cop-out only undermines any regard there is for safety. You don't see the Chicago Cubs telling their players not to wear Cardinal red because it's a 'safety issue.'
Likewise, it's always easy to spend someone else's money. I mean, I can find some wonderful, flash-proof, aparrel - at $300 per piece. I'm not going to be happy, though, when five minutes into the day that Uber-shirt gets shredded by a bit of ceiling track. On some jobs, you can go broke replacing $5 T-shirts ... especially at apprentice wages. The guy with the shovel is likely wearing $10 Wal-Mart sneakers because even his entire paycheck won't get a pair of Red Wings.
