Observing the "Black Hat" observant

Click on the photograph for a closer look.

He came to take a three-hour hike in the mountains wearing exactly the same black suit and white dress shirt that he'd wear to shul on Shabbos, to the Beit Midrash/Study House, and/or, apparently, everywhere. In fact, when first I spotted this couple, this guy was actually still wearing his usual black hat. Most of the Chareidi/fervently Orthodox men whom I spotted on the trail had the seichel/common sense to ditch the jacket, at least, and to remove the black hat that they often wear on top of their yarmulke/kippah/skullcap, but almost all of the adult men were wearing their usual white dress shirts and black suit pants. Do Chareidi men consider it literally beneath their dignity to dress for the less formal occasion?

She came to take a three-hour hike in the mountains dressed in a trip-yourself "sidewalk-sweeper" skirt--and she was carrying a baby in her arms. It goes without saying that all of the Chareidi females beyond toddler age whom I saw on the trail were wearing skirts. What makes Chareidi women think that (a) it's safe to wear a skirt even in locations and/or circumstances in which a skirt could create a safety hazard, and (b) that it's more modest to wear a skirt than pants in locations and/or situations in which they're likely to have parts of their bodies exposed that should not be exposed. (See the article "Olive Skirts, Khaki Pants and Rifles: The Dress of Religious Women in the Israeli Army" on page 40 here. The following is a quote from page 42: "They further spoke of functional (rather than legal) modesty – the tzniut associated with a pair of loose pants that would enable them to engage in more tasks while exposing much less of their body shape and skin to the outside world than a skirt would.").

See also A "habit" best avoided, in my opinion.