The world of finance is filled with well-dressed, correctly shod and immaculately groomed bankers and brokers. The tech world isn’t. And the gulf that separates the two worlds has never been more striking than it is these days, with the upcoming initial public offering of stock  in the Facebook social network.

The upcoming IPO  has lots of investment folks talking and some of the chatter is about the way the social network’s CEO dresses – or actually, fails to dress.

Facebook founder and chief, Mark Zuckerberg, made the rounds of some of the country’s big Wall Street firms recently to preview his company in anticipation of its upcoming IPO later this month.

Zuckerberg was wearing his signature blue jeans and hooded sweatshirt for the events. Not exactly Wall Street attire.

His wardrobe has prompted what some are calling “hoodie gate,” an outpouring of criticism directed at the young entrepreneur for his lack of respect for the money folks he’s courting.

In a videotaped interview withBloomberg News, Michael Pachter, managing director with Wedbush Securities, said Zuckerberg’s decision to wear his “signature hoodie … is actually showing investors he doesn’t care very much.”

“He’s going to be him and he’s going to do what he’s always done. I think that’s a mark of immaturity,” Pachter added. “He’s got to show [investors] the respect that they deserve because he’s asking them for their money.”

He said that Zuckerberg’s seeming lack of respect for the process tells him that the CEO might not be the right fit for the CEO post in a company that’s expected to complete one of the biggest IPOs in tech history.

Like the late Steve Jobs, Zuckerberg is given to wearing the same casual clothing no matter what the occasion. Jobs was famous for his black turtlenecks and simple blue jeans. Zuckerberg likes jeans as well, but as a member of a much younger generation, embraces the hooded sweatshirt as his uniform of everyday.

Is Zuckerberg’s attire a sign of disrespect or just a sign of the times? Does it really matter?

Tags: Facebook, hoodie, Mark Zuckerberg