The old way was a bit more stylish I think.
Let's have a look at the uniforms for the pleasure of the nerds.
The soldiers escorting the King is from the Drabant Guard.
A Drabant guard was from medieval times a king or other royal's personal bodyguard. Usually consisting of nobles (knights), later on predominatly noble officers. They were called drabants because they were always close the king.
These drabants wear combat unforms from the late 1600's. They are actually cuirassiers. As you can tell from the breast plate, heavy sword and stiff knee-length riding boots.
The boots are very stiff, making it akward to walk, hence the characteristic stomping march.
The purpose of the boots was to protect the legs as a cuirassier rode with the knees locked behind the knees of the riders next to him thus forming a sweeping wall advancing towards the enemy.
The Swedish cuirassiers were among the first to actually charge into an infantry formation in the hope of breaking it. That was extremely dangerous but equally efficient if the infantry broke. - In that case the infantry would stand next to no chance and would simply be cut down.
Before that it was standard practice for cuirassiers to ride close up to an infantry formation, fire a pistol, and wheel back allowing the next line of cavalry to do the same.
When the infantry had suffered enough casualties, the sword was drawn and the infantry charged in the hope of breaking them.
The Swedes went in straight away.
Standard cuirassier tactics when facing enemy cavalry was to use the heavy sword to cut down on the head of the horse. The second cut would be aimed at the rider, as the horse went down.
Pistols were used at extreme close quarters when facing enemy cavalry, since the cuirasses offered very good protection from pistol shots, even at point blank range.
The Swedes were also among the first since Roman times to introduce standard, almost identical, uniforms for the entire army. Hence why the cuirassiers (and dragoons) wear Swedish blue and yellow.
That also included general issue footwear. Shoes for infantry and boots for cavalry. There was no such thing as right and left shoes in the Swedish army.
The cavalrymen without cuirasses are dragoons and they stem from the Great Nordic War, in the early 1700's. But their function, history and tactics is another story, for another post. (At that time there was no such thing as light and heavy dragoons yet).