I will just add something that may have some bearing, whilst respecting various views posted up thread. I was in the signalling grade, as some may know, and when I joined (mid 70's) the uniform consisted of heavy duty material, black trousers (more a drain pipe design hangover from the 50's?), blazer (jacket), overcoat and hat/cap. In my case I never saw the headgear, either none was available at all or being a size 7 & 5/8, I suspect none to fit was available. The jacket was fine and is still tucked away in my loft (with the trousers). Those trousers are technically still brand new, only tried on for one shift, and now near 50 years old - and that assumes they were 'new' (as opposed to been in stores) when issued to me (unlikely). The reason they remained unused by me, is likely many others were unused by other signalman, in that the material was as itchy as hell (for some, myself included), just couldn't wear them. In my case I resulted to a supply of decent black trousers (never quite as BLACK as the issued version) from my local Burton's at my own expense.
Part of my point here, is that some people have problems with certain clothing materials/skin conditions (as I did and still do) and so find certain uniform types difficult to wear. This does admittedly make uniform matters somewhat more difficult for the business concerned, especially in todays world with more complex employment rights to boot, so it's not always as black and white as some might like?
