The good old days of strolling to work in a pair of torn jeans, a t-shirt and sandals have passed at Computer Associates. The software maker has instituted a new dress code, allegedly after Chief Sanjay Kumar expressed shock and awe about some of CA's unkempt engineers.

CA's human resources department last month sent a memo to all employees calling for them to wear "business appropriate" clothing, company spokesman Bob Gordon told The Register.

CA instituted a more relaxed dress code a couple of years back, bowing to the carefree trends present in the technology industry. A tighter economy, however, has sparked the call for more conservative clothes.

One source nestled within CA says the new dress code came straight from the top.

"The story is that Sanjay Kumar was embarrassed by a bunch of geeks one day," the source said. "He was walking a customer around the main office, when they ran into a group of geeks. Several of them had jeans with holes, faded t-shirts, etc. He was deeply embarrassed, seeing how poorly this reflected on the company, and the customer was outraged."

The source points out that this could be a sweeping trend in the industry as companies look to batten down the hatches and focus on driving sales.

Based in New York, CA is more prone to abide by the staid East Coast standards. The hippies of Silicon Valley may yet keep jeans, shorts and sandals safe.

For those CA employees worried about what not to wear here's a helpful link . ®

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