When I first joined Her Majesty's Forces, wearing civilian clothes ashore was a privilege which was not always granted, even in one's home port and almost never whilst visiting foreign ports. Indeed, even in 1974 I was given instructions to join a ship in Portsmouth and those instructions contained the phrase 'to travel in uniform'! There was no reason to own civilian clothes as you had a uniform for every occasion. Obviously, of course, everyone, or nearly everyone, did have civilian clothes. However, I do remember one chap being flown home from foreign climes demanding that the Navy purchase him a suit as he had only his uniform onboard. The Navy paid up!