Non-uniformity within RAF uniform is a part of its psyche. It’s all a part of the Air Force Spirit developed over a number of years. AVM Dr Fin Monahan DFC calls it “affected nonchalance’ if you listen to one of his lectures on organisational culture. You can read his thesis here:
https://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprin...nahan18PhD.pdf
This is what he wrote about the “Operational” or “Bomber” SD Hat in his thesis:
the majority of uniform rejection was in the form of modifications that affirmed the owner’s membership of an elite. The RAF blue with silk scarf, red silk lined jacket and top button undone was, for instance, symbolic of the romanticism, dash and élan of the fighter pilot. A scruffy crushed hat, meanwhile, was typical of bomber aircrews. Different ways of wearing the uniform were representations of the strong silos that existed between subcultural elements of the RAF.
The air force was characterized by an apparently relaxed attitude towards discipline, uniform, and deportment which stood in marked contrast to the standards maintained by the army and navy.
However, the uniform was also ritualistically worn incorrectly; RAF personnel had a counter-institutional relationship.
The formation of the RAF was not to have an immediate effect upon the flamboyant taste and sense of dress that many pilots and observers had openly flaunted for a number of years...it was thought to be important for morale that officers should be allowed to express themselves in their own fashion
Another aspect of the R.A.F. dress which struck “the brown job”, as they called their brothers in the Army, was the way in which so many officers and airmen wore their uniforms, and here I noticed that aircrew were usually the worst offenders. One could perhaps forgive the undone top jacket button of the “Fighter Boy”, but not the slovenliness so widespread on some R.A.F. Stations – the flapping jackets, the crushed and dirty caps, the undone buttons.7
Now, HRH Prince of Wales was Combat Ready on 22 Sqn RAF, traditionally a torpedo-
bomber outfit, so he is entitled to wear that operational bomber hat from the perspective of tradition (and long may that continue). Also, it makes you look like a total dweeb with a flat top hat - looking like a nail ready to be smashed into the nearest piece of wood!
Bravo PoW for continuing our culture and traditions
An example of how a flat top hat looks…
An example of Combat Ready RAF Aircrew in No 1 uniform and someone else dressing up as honorary RAF.