Ahhhh The old days. When i went to boot camp we were told to pack up all our civvies including underwear & tooth brush and send it home to mummy. We were told ,If the service wants you to have anything it will issue you with it. That was the last i saw of civilian dress for at least 2 years. We wore uniforms 24/7 even PT required a uniform dress. When leaving base a dress uniform was required and before going out the gate a formal inspection was done to ensure a proper standard was maintained as 20% or so were usually refused permission to proceed. If you wanted to wear civilian clothes you had to join a locker club off base that supplied changing rooms , lounges ,washrooms and lockers for you to store civilian clothes. People in uniform were everywhere, bars, nightclubs, dancehalls, theatres, hockey rinks & public parks, along with MP'S keeping an eye on things. Ive hitchiked half way across Canada a couple of times in uniform & never had to wait longer than 30 minutes for a ride. People on leave even wore their uniforms with pride around their hometowns. It took a long time of gradual change for things to come 180 degrees. I'm not so sure all the changes are for the better but then again.