Yeah the shoes thing can be a pisser, but it kinda suits me anyway because it is simply what I wear everyday. I tried the jeans, polo and runners thing once just to see how I'd go. That was about 5 years back and I landed in Kishinev. Holy sh!te, didn't they try to do a number on me. I got the "You have a BIG problem" line at the visa desk for starters. I played the game with this joker for a bit and then said in my rudimentory Russian, words to the effect of "Well phucin well fix the problem". He kinda went quiet and stamped the visa and stuck it in my passport pretty quick. First thing I did when I got into central was got a quick haircut and and donned some plain clothes. Experiment over LOL.
Your picture in Kiev is perhaps a bit extreme, but yes I've seen that sort of thing many times also. Gaaaaaaaawd some of the idiots who go from here should be shot in order to save them from a worse fate. LOL. I reackon I know just a little bit and I make more mistakes in two hours there than I'd care to admit, so I dunno what hope some of these wish seekers have.
As for forums, there is still a couple where it can get pretty rough and tumble when these dreamers start expounding their knowledge and worse presuming to actually advise someone. The original author of this thread obviously tripped over something which he thought relevant, and IMHO it is. To go back to the start, suits etc are going a bit over the top, but nothing wrong with over dressing just a touch. Makes it a helluva lot easier to pack also.