Now I don't bother with losers who look down on dressing up. To hell with them.
I'm not sure of how a "loser" is quantified in this statement. I prefer to focus on people for whom I hold respect, and not think so much about the others. "Dressing" for flying my draw poser remarks, if it for aesthetic purposes. I have though to myself poser remarks about pilot appearing people whose flying "dress" appears to far exceed their role in aviation. If you want to "dress" like a pilot, hanging around an airport would not be the best place for acceptance.
I generally wear a helmet when I fly helicopters. Though rare, helicopter accidents seem to have a higher risk of fast, heavy sharp things flying in all directions while you hit something, during a crash. I always wear a life jacket when flying beyond gliding distance of shore, or landing on the water, it's just a good idea. But, I'm not wearing it to be dressy. I always wear clothing which has properties of lesser flammability - like jeans and cotton or wool shirts and outer wear. But none of it is "pilot" dress, it's the same clothing I wear under my firefighting gear. I always wear a headset, because it's good for my continued hearing. I only ever wore a parachute when my employer required doing so for government policy reasons.
In an open cockpit monoplane, a helmet sounds like a good idea, perhaps less so flying a 172 on a routine day. One thing to consider, is if you're going to wear super personal protective wear, you should plan to provide the same wear to your passengers. They will need a headset (or helmet) if you wear one, they should have a flight suit if it is providing protection appropriate to that environment. Certainly a life jacket. Otherwise, if you're flying a few pax in a GA aircraft, wearing a flight suit, helmet, life jacket, and parachute, your passenger(s) might feel they should have them too!