What does dressing up in a suit have anything to do with respecting someone's time?

I'd say that respecting someone's time is actually about, you know, their time. Not being late to the meeting, not letting it run late, and so on. How much time I spend getting dressed in fancy clothing is utterly irrelevant - or at least should be.

We're talking about signaling, right? Dressing in a suit is a signal that you thought about and planned ahead for the meeting. It's certainly more of a signal of that than it is: "I'm trying to impress you by doing things the traditional way."

>>Dressing in a suit is a signal that you thought about and planned ahead for the meeting.

I don't see how that equates to respecting someone's time though. It can mean you respect them, as a person, but respecting their time is a different thing, in my opinion, because, again, it is not related to their time, but yours (in the form of spending your time to get ready and look good, etc.).

"I have prepared for the time that we're going to spend together" is respecting their time. I don't have a strong opinion on the degree to which a suit is a good signal of this.

Eh not really. It doesn't take very long to put on a suit, once you have done so a couple times - especially not with wrinkle free shirts and clip on ties.

What a suit really does is make you look more manly (broader shoulders) and there is a certain impression by wearing the same clothing powerful people wear.