Mike Roberts-Butler writes (Have Your Say, October 7) about the changes in personal appearance today, compared to when he was a lad.

I too remember as a child, when we ever went out to, say, the cinema, we had to wear nice clothes and behave ourselves.

Later, during the 1960s when I was a mod, we still wore smart, although fashionable, clothes.

During the 70s came the flares and wide collar suits – still very presentable.

Then all of a sudden came the ’80s and ’90s and now it is not, for some reason, smart to be presentable. When and why did it become acceptable for politicians, TV presenters, and quite often people in business such as some estate agents, not to wear a tie?

I hate this tread of open neck shirts, or someone who wears a nice blazer with jeans, or brown shoes with a dark blue or black suit!

The problem seems to me that people are no longer encouraged to climb the social ladder, but to slide down it. Richard Grant, Bisterne Close, Burley