I raised a point in Thief13x's thread, 'When you almost became... "Another Statistic"', about students and PPLs not feeling able to discuss their mistakes with their instructors for fear of reprimand or embarrassment. I went on to suggest that the image an instructor creates for himself/ herself has a large part to play in this reluctance:
Don't make yourselves out to be demigods or super-human; be modest about your capabilities, encourage open discussion with your students and listen to what they tell you - who knows, you might learn something too. Instructors wearing white cotton shirts, blue pullovers and gold stripes can be really intimidating to inexperienced students. Good instructors don't need physical trappings to prove how good they really are.
The instructors at our club are all incredibly experienced (including several airline training captains and an ex RAX test pilot), but are incredibly modest about it, to the point of being self-effacing. They strive to put students at their ease: this includes a conscious policy of not wearing any kind of instructor's uniform.
I am interested to know what PPL students past and present think about this. Do a blue pullover and gold stripes inspire confidence and put you at your ease, or are they just plain intimidating?