I remember this. The whole country was aghast. To know how far we've devolved, into what now is seemingly accepted/acceptable, is beyond disheartening.
He should have worn a black turtleneck and black jeans with black cowboy boots!
Jimmy Carter wore a sport coat and tie once I believe, and they went bat shit crazy over that too. If you pay attention to most conservative men and Christian men, and I don't mean the conservatives driven strictly by greed, they have very juvenile attitudes toward women and in what they think is humor. It is like their development stops in their late teens or in their twenties. This may explain as adults why they hold on to the ideas of past, and fail to grow as human beings.