Fighter pilots who had their lookout affected by wearing a tie were unable to report this fact on the grounds of being dead.
The spotted cravats, scarves etc sported by pilots of WW2 were adopted in substitution for collars and ties, as it was uncomfortable to wear a collar and tie whilst constantly craning your head around to check the sky behind you. You could stuff your collar and tie into a pocket or a boot in order to be properly dressed if visiting someone else's mess for a swift half and a few gallons of fuel on the way back from splashing the boche (ditto the hat, which explains why Pilot Officer Prune's hat was always so crumpled and battered, as he had to visit several stations on the way home, with a pint at each one, on the occasions when not pranged, as he would invariably be shot up, out of fuel, and lost).
Back on thread: gold bars, uniforms etc: joke! Any PPL stude who chooses a school on the basis of how the instructors are dressed deserves to suffer from "crippling fear" or at least "crippling ridicule" in the cockpit.