Well the jackets were badass - decorated or not - and why they were allowed (needed) to wear them....
Because it was COLD up there!!!!
Live in fame or go down in flame!
USAF!!!!
Often -40F.
The cabins in the heavy bombers were not pressurized. Some guys (the waist gunners) wore electrically heated suits because their position was open into the wind in the early bombers.
Even the guys in supposedly heated cockpits in fighters (eg, the P-38) froze their butts off. The P-38 heater was notorious for being insufficient to the task at hand over Europe...
Nothing can stop the Army Air Corp...finished it for you..:O)