The saying was an old school saying, meaning dress for success and you'll obtain success. While I agree with the concept I disagree in because you're catering to shallow people. That said, people, and particularly some industries are shallow. I've experienced this many times over.
Any industry where you can make a very good living is gonna have a dress code , or advancement based on personal appearance , even the construction industry where everybody gets dirty , your appearance can hold you back & its fuked .
I would never post the company name where i worked for decades under my real account but since this is a temp account i dont care , i worked for Skanska construction which is one of the top 10 largest worldwide construction companies for decades , i was told to my face that i would never go any higher than superintendant/project manager due to my looks , one of the big wigs from the home office in Sweden told me flat out i looked like a member of the Hells Angles because im sleeved out & nearly a full shirt of tattoos , my tats, beard & bald head make me look scary to business people i was told .
At corporate meetings i met all the other project managers from all over the world & none looked like me , most were pencil necks who never swung a hammer & went to college to learn construction mnmgt vs hands on , i was the only 1 who worked up the ladder & made it to upper tier management but the tats stopped me from going higher up where i had a company BMW vs a company truck .
Fukin tats cost me a $500,000 a year position , anybody reading this trust & believe appearance counts , big time .