Agreed. But then, so is dressing up in pseudo merchant marine outfits to fly large aeroplanes.
This is a legal requirement for the big jets (mainly so you can see who the flight crew are). However, I'd trade mine for something a bit more practical like a decent leather flying jacket, mainly so I don't freeze my bits off doing a walkround in the winter!
As far as instructors at your average PPL flying school wearing half a dozen stripes on their shoulders, I find it quite amusing. The best pilots don't need to prove it. The professional schools (OATS, etc.) are a different consideration though as they are training for the airline environment.
As for me, I wear an RAF baby-gro for light aircraft flying as I've seen what can happen if you don't.
HF