Oh Stewardess?

The downfall of air travel occurred not with deregulation of the 80s, not with the lost of the big airline behemoths of Pan Am, TWA, and Braniff, not with airline mergers, decrease in in-flight services, cheap air fares, crowded airports and airplanes, nor security woes, it occurred when we lost the famous stewardess. The stewardess was the epitomes of glamour in the skies.

How I envied those women back in the day. And where is the source of my enviousness? It’s those UNIFORMS! I love the styles and colors. There’s something to be said about the old-school uniforms of the 60s and 70s. Yes, I understand that women were fighting against marginalization, sexism, and male chauvinism to name a few (and still are), but there was a certain allure and aura when a stewardess walked by in the terminal or the airplane. It had to be the uniforms.

The flight attendant uniforms of today have reverted back to the militaristic style of the 40s and 50s. The airlines major concern was that the flight attendants needed to be “identified” as a crew member, which actually promotes us a safety professional. But come on! Do we all have to wear navy blue?? I want color and liveliness. I want the bang and the pop! I want eyes to look at us! I want to hear, “ooh” as we walk by! We don’t have that now. If one looks up the definition of navy blue in the dictionary, one will read “the color of flight attendant uniform.” Not one specific airline, but all airlines.

I’m not saying that we need to bring back A-lines, mini-skirts, and go-go boots (can you imagine me in go-go boots on a beverage cart? It would not WORK!). But there needs to be something that brings back the allure and glamour of the stewardess (steward if you’re a man), and one place to start is the uniform. We can work on the other stuff later, like “Paris! First Class! International!”