Well done UJ for resurrecting the thread! I was about to weigh in with a totally irrelevent tale of an old chum of mine, now sadly deceased, who was an officer in the Welsh Guards back in the 50's and 60's. One one occasion he was setting off to catch a train from London for a weekend in the country attired in tweeds and brown shoes when he was accosted by his adjutant, who ordered him back to Wellington Barracks. He had to do a weekend orderly officer for being incorrectly dressed in London - dark suit and black shoes still being de rigeur in the capital. Never that bad in the RAF, but I still cringe at the thought of the dreadful trilby I had at OCTU which had to be worn on the rare occasions we were off camp in civvies.