If you look at films from the 30s you’ll see that just about everyone in the cities wore a suit or dress when they were out and about. My mother, this was in the 50s and 60s, never left the house to even go grocery shopping with out a dress on. It was a sign of respect for self and others. The hippie craze of the 70s destroyed that. Now apparently being a slob is the norm.
Yes, it saddens me. Through the 40s and 50s people dressed up more as well. Women in dresses and men in suits, and often both men and women in hats. Even service station attendants wore a tie. Things were more stylish then.
In Victorian times, guys wore some form of suit and tie while hunting and fishing. I purposely avoided the Sherlock Holmes films with Robert Downey in which he portrayed a tie-less open-collar Holmes with a beard stubble.
I don’t think I ever saw my grandmother in slacks back in the 60s, not even when gardening.
Aunt Bee and all her friends on Andy Griffith were always dressed up, often with gloves on, too.