During the North African campaign, dress regulations seem to have been relaxed due to the extreme conditions, and British soldiers were allowed a wide degree of latitude in what they wore. This resulted in what became know as 'desert style'. A mix of KD, woollen and private purchase civilian garments (particularly desert boots and corduroy trousers), desert style was typified by the popular 'Two Types' cartoon characters, famous for their idiosyncratic clothes and ubiquitous brew can. After victory in North Africa, many veterans of the campaign continued to dress 'desert style' as they fought their way through Sicily and Italy. Even Field Marshall Montgomery (himself a notoriously individual dresser) noted this phenomenon in his memoirs:
The men in back areas discarded all possible clothing and some even took to wearing the wide-brim Sicilian straw hat. I well remember an incident that occurred one day as I was driving in my open car up to the front. I saw a lorry coming towards me with a soldier apparently completely naked in the driver's seat, wearing a silk top hat. As the lorry passed me, the driver leant out from his cab and took off his hat to me with a sweeping and gallant gesture. I just roared with laughter. However, while I was not particular about dress so long as the soldiers fought well and we won our battles, I at once decided that there were limits. When I got back to my headquarters I issued the only order I ever issued about dress in the Eighth Army; it read as follows: "Top hats will not be worn in the Eighth Army".
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