Having lived in different countries over the past few years i have noticed something among brits. The y are ashamed of the accomplishments and identity. Note, I said ASHAMED not MODEST, cos those are 2 entirely different things.
Another observation i have made is that 90% of the anti-stripes, anti-unifroform, anti-suit, anti tie brigade tend to be suffering from some form of middle aged crisis. my advice is that you act your age, trying to "fit in" with 18-25 yr olds isnt going to help your case.
It's really sad that airline pilots believe that they are the only ones entitled to wear stripes and uniforms. It is also sad that pilots are ashamed of being identified in public. Bus drivers walk around town in their unforms so do motorcyclists, nurses, industrial workers, retail assistants, travel agents, etc, etc. and it doesnt seem to be a problem.
BTW, can someone explain why in the UK the re is this divide b/w PPL and commercial instructors? in most countries all FI's are treated the same.
I'm about to spend over £10k on flight training,. If you think that i'm going to spend that amount of cash on some boring middleaged git in flip flops, then u can forget about it.
There is nothing wrong with "ppl instructors" wearing stripes. From a consumers point of view, an instructors dress code is one of the first things i look at when shortlisting schools, and i know a significant no of people who do the same.