I spent a lot of time on planes when I was but a wee frock dolly, and although the food probably made the most impact (to this day I prefer my dinner in separate compartments!), I cannot forget the beautiful air stewardesses and of course, their outfits! Today, my nearest tube station is on the line to Heathrow airport, and I often see neatly turned out airline staff on their way to work – so precise and well-groomed! Maybe I’m just jealous, or perhaps a little bit scared of their Stepford-like perfection (and the fine line they walk between the latest super glamorous Virgin Atlantic advert and their potential to suddenly take up heels and march on the capital…)
Now, those lovely ladies you can see above are from Gulf Air, who managed to combine Arabian culture and modesty with a certain flair for style - the uniforms even underwent a re-design by Balenciaga in the 1990s, which I suppose shows just how importance elegance in the skies is to some airlines....
However, is it just me, or do they look a little bit too much like this..?
Anyway, if it wasn't for a lady called Ellen Church, who in 1930 persuaded Boeing that having women aboard planes would soothe nervous passengers, we wouldn't be able to enjoy all these delights. Considering what Miss Church would have had to wear - and, natty as those outfits are, would you have been soothed? - I think we've come a long way!
Air Stewardesses have been dressed in everything from Pucci print jumpsuits with plexi-glass bubble helmets (yes really, apparently ideal for protecting the coiffures of the famous Braniff Babes from wind when walking to the terminal) to hot-pants and kinky boots (Southwest Airlines winning no prizes for taste in the 1970s), salwar-kameez and sarongs (Air India and SIA respectively). Even our lovely Barbie had a go, though by the 90s, she had progressed from pushing a trolley of barely edible re-heated meat, to flying the plane. No bubble helmet for her, thank you...
A man becomes the creature of this uniform.
Napoleon (1769 - 1821)
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