Formality And Informality Of Britain.

Formality and informality. Britain

The tourist view of Britain involves lots of formal ceremonies. Some people have drawn the conclusion from this that the British are rather formal in theirgeneral behaviour. But this is not true; there is a difference between observing formalities and being formal in everyday life. Attitudes towards clothes are the good indication of this difference. It alldepends on whether a person is playing a public role or a private role. When people are “on duty”, they have to obey some quite rigid rules. For example, A male bank employee is expected to wear asuit whit a tie, even if he cannot afford a very smart one. So are politicians. There was once a mild scandal during the 1980s because the leader of the opposition wore clothes on a public occasion whichwere considered too informal.
On the other hand, when people are not playing a public role (when they are just being themselves) there seem to be no rules at all. The British are probably moretolerant of “strange” clothing than people in most other countries. You may find, for example, the same bank employee, on his lunch break in hot weather, walking through the streets with his tie round hiswaist and his collar unbuttoned. He is no longer “at work” and for his employers to criticize him for his appearance would be seen as a gross breach of privacy. Perhaps because of the clothingformalities that many people have to follow during the week, the british, unlike the people of many other countries, like to “dress down” on Sundays. They aren’t wait to take off their respectable workingclothes and slip into something really scruffy. Lots of men who wear suits during the week can then be seen in old sweaters and jeans, sometimes whit holes in them. And male politicians are keen to getthemselves photographed not wearing a tie when `officially´ on holiday, to show that they are really ordinary people.
This difference between formalities and formality is the key to what people...