I think he's keying off of the "know the rules so you can transcend them" idea. It's used in a lot of PUA material.

It's not a thing unique to pick up artists though, it can be applied to most arts or indeed programming.

There was an article posted on HN a while ago that explained a similar effect (dressing differently to show status) outside of the context of PUA. For example Zuckerberg wearing a hoodie to meetings with Morgan Stanley.