People dressed more formally, but 'most people' did not dress 'better', they simply couldn't afford it. Almost all North American men in suits looked like fool

People dressed more formally, but 'most people' did not dress 'better', they simply couldn't afford it. Almost all North American men in suits looked like fools wearing brown paper bags because suits were never fitted tailored properly. Even less expensive suits nowadays can at least have a decent cut and fit close to reasonable, even if there is still a huge variety of 'weird stuff' that people invariably buy anyhow. Now there are more ways to look crazy but at least if you want to dress kind of properly, it's within grasp for most people.