Uniformly glamorous – a history of flight attendant uniforms

04.03.2024 - 07:59 / traveldailynews.com / Theodore Koumelis

The old-fashioned glamour of flight is brought to mind in the pristine uniforms of the cabin crew. These have had countless makeovers since the first flight attendants took to the skies in the 1930s; Artemis Aerospace takes a trip down the aviation catwalk.

Picture a flight attendant and, whatever the uniform, you know the person wearing it will be immaculately turned out. Throughout the history of commercial flight, fashions in cabin crew uniforms have ebbed and flowed; hemlines have gone up and down, jackets and hats have come and gone, but the overarching image is one of spotless star quality.

The first flight attendants, known as stewardesses, were taken on by Boeing Air transport in 1930 and were in fact qualified nurses. This was a deliberate move to make passengers, nervous of such a new method of transport, feel that they were in safe hands. They were dressed in a uniform intended to emphasise their nursing credentials. It comprised a skirt and jacket in dark green wool, with a matching green beret-style hat and a green and grey wool cape.

The role of cabin crew has always been to look after the passengers and keep them secure and comfortable, and this requires not only glamour but comfort and ease of movement. As a result, the cape was soon dropped as impractical. In the subsequent decades, there weren’t many developments in uniform. Colours tended to be navy blue, brown or dark green in the winter and beige, light green and light blue for summer, perhaps unconsciously still echoing the nurse theme. World War ll led to more militaristic tailored designs, but once the war was over, more stylish influences began to creep in, such as the ‘New Look’ pioneered by Dior in 1947, which emphasised a cinched-in waist and a full, A-line skirt.

However, once the swinging sixties exploded onto the world, the design of flight attendant uniforms really took off. Perhaps the most ‘space age’ design was introduced when Braniff International Airways’ advertising team collaborated with Italian fashion designer Emilio Pucci, known for his geometric prints in psychedelic colours. His design was known as the Supersonic Derby uniform and comprised a multi-coloured nylon jersey dress with matching tights, bright green boots with orange cross-hatching and even a matching bowler hat. Mary Quant’s miniskirts and shift dresses also began to influence uniform design, and outfits made in the new synthetic fabrics such as terylene and polyester replaced linen and wool, as they were more practical and easy to care for.

It was also during the 1960s that Singapore Airlines commissioned Pierre Balmain, the famous French couturier, to design its uniform, which remains largely unchanged today. This is due, as the airline states,