My opinion.
CADPAT is horrible as a service dress. It is the equivalent to a mechanics coveralls. Mine are of various shades of fade due to the fact that I've thrashed in the course of using them as they're meant to be - Dress 5: Operational Clothing. The uniform always has a poor fit and, in my opinion, lets fat people hide behind a set of MC Hammer Pants. It is definitely not what I see as the ideal uniform for presenting ourselves to the public in.
I spoke at length with another member here and we agree that the CF has succumbed to nothing short of pure laziness. We wear CADPAT all the time now because we are too lazy to hold ourselves or our subordinates to a higher standard; namely shined shoes/boots and a decent Service dress. We should dress up as opposed to dress down. That being said, I don't blame us, as our existing service dress is uncomfortable and it makes us look like retarded washouts from Saturday Night Fever with the nice big mint-green collar.
IF I were the buttons and bows guy, I would look at uniforms in the following way (within the current dress reg system):
Dress 1. Ceremonial Dress - We need a form of dress that goes above the Service dress. Would you wear a business suit to a black-tie affair? CF Ceremonial Dress (like the scarlets) should be fairly standardized and issued (ie: standard high-collar scarlet tunic, standard headdress). This would be appropriate for funerals, state functions, special parades, etc, etc; when we put our best foot forward.
Dress 2. Mess Dress - This is social evening wear that should continue to be a private purchase.
Dress 3. Service Dress: This is current DEU minus ceremonial things like belts, sashes, swords, medals. A simple, revised service dress (one that actually looks decent in both style and colour) should be maintained for those who work out of operational jobs (training, operational units, etc), especially when the public is involved (ie: recruiting). There is something to be said for looking simple and smart.
Dress 4. Garrison Dress: Not required, as either the above or below covers its function off.
Dress 5. Operational Dress: As Edward stated, "fight or train". However, the "mundane" jobs that he listed - washing, fixing, sorting - are operational duties for alot of people in the CF, therefore I believe it falls under this category.
5a. Operational <Enhanced>: As a subset of the above, it is recognized that guys "leaving the wire" have some unique requirements. Body Armour is always worn (necessitating changes to the shirt). Padding for elbows/knees is needed. I could go on, but "Combat" requirements are different enough from "Operational" ones to justify looking into a different suite of clothing. Crye's products (look 'em up) are an excellent example of this. This would, like a flight suit, be a specialized order of operational dress for specific trades.
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This is somewhat similar to the Marine Corps, as I believe they personify both "Dress Up, Not Down" and that they look the part of the professional organization that they are. This isn't shockingly new for our organization - it is all from the current dress PAM; it's just one that we loosely apply for either financial reasons or for the fact that we're just plain lazy (my favorite was the CEFCOM guys in Ottawa who felt that Combats were the dress of the day to get everyone into the expeditionary mindset....)
That being said, as Edward mentioned, clothing an entire organization is expensive, and I wholeheartedly endorse the opinion that we need beans and bullets before buttons and bows.