I built my bike for the sole purpose of riding to and from work as often as I can. I've put 1600 miles on it so far this year and less than 16 of those miles were used for anything other than commuting. Before buying my LS650 I considered smaller thumpers, DS bikes and even scooters.
I don't wear anything special when I ride to work. If it's a shorts and golf shirt day, I simply add my 3/4 helmet and sunglasses and I'm on my way. On cold mornings I might throw on a pair of gloves, goggles and maybe a pair of softshell hiking pants to keep me from freezing on my commute.
I'm doing the minimum, because that's all I want to do. I never intended to go with a full set of gear. Doing so would turn the simple process of going to work into something more than I want to deal with.
I'm banking on my skills and attention to my surroundings to keep me reasonably safe. I am hoping nobody takes down out there. I hoping if I do go down, my helmet will do it's job and understand the rest of my body might feel pretty bad. I fully understand that I might pay the price for my decisions and I'm willing to take that chance IF I ever go down on the road. My plan is to never crash on a road bike and not be brain dead if I do. So I'm dressing "appropriately" for that plan.
When I raced motocross, I wore a full set of gear. When I raced, the question wasn't IF was going to crash, it was when and how hard. Hitting the ground was part of the sport and I dressed accordingly for that plan.
If this makes me a 49 yr old hipster, then I'm cool with that. I'm never going to smoke, get tattoos, or wear designer clothing, but I would consider removing the visor from my helmet.