Flight Attendant Uniforms over the years

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One of the many innovative cost-saving methods Southwest Airlines used in its earliest days: saving money on fabric by putting their flight attendants in extremely short shorts.
 
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When my mother was a flight attendant for Korean Air they used to have a really classy black uniform. These days it's a more jarring shade of light blue.

In general there used to be an era of aesthetic and classy uniforms between the very early ones at the onset of jet travel that were really scant and the largely visually boring ones seen today, that more classy era being from the late 70s/early 80s up into the early 90s.

In 1979 Lufthansa attained absolute peak by giving the option of pants. As someone who hates skirts and picked pants and blazer over a dress for graduation, this resonates with me. Not to mention that the way the uniform is cut and the choice of colors is beyond timeless and very much an elegant look.
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In the 70s, even Aeroflot was giving its flight attendants some sex appeal and bright colors.
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Air France however kept their uniforms modest and with subtle colors
 
The new Qantas uniforms are a significant upgrade from the migraine-inducing uniforms I remember as a young bloke, which I can only assume were designed to act as camouflage against the projectile vomit of motion sick passengers
 

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SuperShark said:
The new Qantas uniforms are a significant upgrade from the migraine-inducing uniforms I remember as a young bloke, which I can only assume were designed to act as camouflage against the projectile vomit of motion sick passengers
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I'm confused, which ones are the new ones?
 
View: https://youtu.be/-WOqtScRf5E?si=CaV2EDTauIpGeWL4&t=226


Braniff Airways takes the cake for the most insane outfits. In 1965 they created the "Braniff Air Strip", which involved the flight attendants actually removing and adding layers in full view of all the passengers. airlines_braniff_spacebubble.jpg
They even had space-age rain domes briefly to protect their hairdos. That was quickly phased out because of the difficulty in storing them when they were removed in-flight
 
After a month in the swamps of the Niger Delta, there was nothing better* than being served a glass of champagne by a British Caledonian stewardess. That tenner 'dash' for an upgrade was well worth it.

Chris

*Perhaps the sound of the DC-10's undercarriage retracting...
 
This book published in 2000 looks at a number of topics including uniforms for pilots and flight attendants around the world.
Wonder if any of the images can be found online?

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:cool: Yes! My 2 favorite uniforms in the book have the same images found online.

Book has this one full page on page 47, described as 1990s Gulf Air design by Balenciaga Fashion House. Website below dates it as 1970s. To me it is a quite classy take on the concept.
This view of it is sourced from, https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016...dants-used-to-wear-the-coolest-uniforms-ever/

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Another favorite is on the very next page, 48, also full page although B&W instead of color. Caption reads in part, "Stewardess Aban Mistry models the Air-India uniform ... 1971 ..." and, "The short salwar-kameez was both culturally appropriate and practical for serving in the cabin."
Ah, search engines find a social media post having it,

1971 Stewardess Aban Mistry.jpg
 

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