Originally Posted by
fjetter
You are correct in that your appearance shouldn't dictate pass/fail and your attitude. Where it does come into play is the first impression with the examininer especially if you have not met them before. This in addition to being appropiately prepared: logbooks ready to go, FTN #s, and x-c laid out says to the examiner quite a bit about you.
Again, that all seems like a for-naught answer. The examiners don't care what you look like, really. How many of them show up in a tie? In fact, every examiner I've ever had showed up in jeans. My experience is that most people who champion the wearing of button downs and ties went to a flight academy and took very little time getting to know the person they were taking the ride with or who they were sending their students to.
The examiner knows just from talking to the student for 15 minutes how the ride is going to go. If your examiner is sitting on the john reading GQ then I'd probably find another one.