Braniff International Airways hostess uniform by Emilio Pucci 1966 Boots by Beth Levine SFO Museum –
Eighty-five years of airline fashion are now on view at San Francisco International Airport, courtesy of the SFO Museum.
Fashion In Flight: A History of Airline Uniform Design includes over 70 complete ensembles and accessories from the likes of Dior, Balenciaga, Yves Saint Laurent, Oleg Cassini, Vivienne Westwood and others and offers insight into the design history and evolution of the airline uniform, its iconic status in popular culture, and its dynamic relationship to the world of fashion.
Here are more samples from the exhibition, which is on view through January 2017 in the International Terminal Main Hall & in the Aviation Museum and Library.
Trans World Airlines hostess uniform by Oleg Cassini 1955 Briny Marlin Coat & Suit Company Hat by Mae Hanauer SFO Museum
Virgin Atlantic Airways flight attendant uniform by Vivienne Westwood 2014 Courtesy of Virgin Atlantic Airways /SFO Museum
A while back, Helsinki Airport and Finnair turned an airport runway into a skatepark.
That worked out so well, they’re doing it again:
On May 24, Finnair and Helsinki Airport (HEL) will host Runway 2 – a fashion show featuring work by top designers from around the world presented on an airport runway.
The event is a Match Made in HEL and will feature the work of yet-to-be announced fashion designers from China, Korea, Japan, the UK, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.
Sounds like great fun. Especially if the planes landing and taking off that day use the other runway…
Through the end of August, The Food & Shops at LaGuardia Terminal B is having a party to celebrate a year’s worth of improvements that include new specialty stores (America!, Desigual, Duty Free Americas/ L’Occitane, Eddie Bauer, Lacoste, Lick, InMotion Entertainment, Ruby Blue and Tumi) and expanded dining options that now include Bowery Bay Tavern, Piccolo Mercato, Six Blocks Bakery, Sorrentine and Villa Pizza Kitchen.
Be on the lookout for free food tastings, store discounts, live music and special events There’s also a Twitter contest with merchandise giveaways underway.
Over at Newark Liberty International Airport – in United’s Terminal C – OTG has opened some of the first pieces of the “re-imagined” space.
Designed to be “dining oases,” Proof Whiskey Bar and Caps Beer Garden are now in the center of the long hallways. The first of 38 redesigned gate lounges in Terminal C has also opened.
Here are more fun photos from a slide show on flight attendant uniforms I put together for CNBC Road Warrior. Part 1 is here.
Hughes Airwest uniform courtesy Ted Huetter, Museum of Flight Seattle
According to Seattle’s Museum of Flight, in the early 1970s American artist and designer Mario Armond Zamparelli was asked by business magnate and aviator Howard Hughes to create new flight attendant uniforms for Hughes Airwest. A memorable Airwest outfit was a Sundance Yellow princess-line knit dress, which had a matching zippered jacket. When going outdoors, flight attendants could add a hooded cape or a princess-line coat.
In the 1960s and ’70s, hotpants were common, as seen in this Continental uniform. Courtesy Cliff Muskiet www.uniformfreak.com
“Hot pants and short dresses with hot pants underneath were a common look in the 1960s and ’70s, and Continental, PSA and Southwest Airlines all had uniforms featuring that style,” said Cliff Muskiet of uniformfreakcom. “In those years, the stewardess was used to attract male passengers and hot pants were part of the plan,” he said.
Courtesy Cathay Pacific
Compared with the hot pants-themed uniforms some airlines required their flight attendants to wear during the ’60s and ’70s, these Cathay Pacific uniforms, launched in July 2011, appear to be quite tame. But the union representing the airline’s flight attendants recently complained the outfits were “too sexy.”
In a statement, Cathay Pacific said it has made some modifications to the uniform to address concerns about the length of the blouse and the tightness of the skirt, and crew members “are welcome to exchange their uniform any time if they feel the fit is not right.”
Although many of the older airlines are long gone, some of the classic airlines are looking to return to the skies, such as PEOPLExpress.
In May 2014, a group trying to bring back Eastern Air Lines, the iconic Miami-based carrier that operated from the 1920s until 1991, held a contest to choose a designer for the uniforms crew members might wear when the airline returns to the skies. The winner was Miami-based designer Lisu Vega, whose collection includes a variety of chic, navy and teal outfits with matching hats and luggage.
Eastern Air Lines uniform Simon Soong / Courtesy Lisu Vega
Here’s part of a fun slide show I put together for CNBC Road Warrior and NBC News Travel on some fashionable and, at times, frivolous uniforms worn by airline flight attendants over the years.
Courtesy International Women’s Air & Space Museum
Since 1930, when efficient, caped nurses became the first stewardesses, it’s been a tradition for flight attendants to look great while making sure airline customers are comfortable and safe.
The role of the flight attendant hasn’t really changed, but cabin crew outfits certainly have. Here’s a look at some of the chic, fashionable and intriguing uniforms that have been spotted in the skies.
Courtesy: The Boeing Company
In 1930, Ellen Church became the first airline stewardess after convincing Boeing Air Transport (now United Airlines) that the presence of onboard nurses would go a long way in helping early passengers overcome their fear of flying.
Seven other registered nurses soon joined Church’s team, gathering to pose for this photo wearing uniforms made of dark green wool, with matching green and gray wool capes.
A Braniff 1966 Pucci uniform. From the collection of Cliff Muskiet www.uniformfreak.com
“Back in the 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s all stewardess uniforms looked alike,” said Cliff Muskiet, curator of Uniform Freak, an online museum of flight attendant uniforms. The only colors used were navy blue, dark green and brown for winter uniforms and light blue, light green and beige for summer uniforms, said Muskiet.
It gave stewardesses “a very conservative look,” he said. During the mid-to-late 1960s, however, airlines began turning to fashion designers and ad agencies to cultivate a hipper, sexier image for flight attendants. In 1966, Braniff International Airways crew members would be hard to miss wearing this eye-catching, geometric print dress with matching tights by Italian designer Emilio Pucci.
Courtesy: The Braniff Collection
A titillating print and TV advertising campaign for Braniff in 1965 was called the “Air Strip” and featured a Pucci-designed uniform with several layers that could be removed during a flight.
“The TV commercial depicted a stewardess performing an airborne striptease,” said Victoria Vantoch, author of “The Jet Sex—Airlines Stewardesses and the Making of an American Icon.”
“Braniff turned the stewardess into a patently sexual icon and other airlines soon followed,” she said.
Image: Braniff Bubble Helmet Braniff Collection, The History of Aviation Collection, Eugene McDermott Library, University of Texas at Dallas.
In the mid-1960s Pucci also created an unusual clear plastic bubble helmet as part of the uniform line designed for Dallas-based Braniff. The helmets weren’t intended to be worn into space, but rather to protect a flight attendant’s hairdo if she needed to walk across a windy tarmac.
I’ll be back with part two of this slide show in a future post, but in the meantime, here’s a link to the full slide show on CNBC Road Warrior.
