Donning my hard hat for this one - cabin crew appearance

[TellerTuesday]

I do realise I'm probably going to get flamed for this but has anyone else noticed a real decline in the appearance of cabin crew members?

Just had a flight with Virgin and the female members honestly looked dreadful. Ill fitting uniforms, red trousers stretched over VPL bottoms, tight white gaping shirts, one had a drab cardigan over the top.

I realise it's a sexist notion but when I was younger they always looked so glamorous strutting through the airport in their heeled court shoes (mainly flat now it appears), immaculate hair and make up.

Also thought the same when I last flew with TUI. The male cabin crew always seem to look well turned out.

I mean, they don't get to pick their uniforms

YANBU. When I applied for cabin crew roles many years ago you had to have a normal BMI and no visible tattoos. That is definitely not the case anymore - I saw a girl with a full sleeve on my last flight!

And the reason this is bad, is?

😆

My grandad used to wear a suit and trilby on the beach , clothing is much more casual and comfortable these days. Flight attendants deserve to be comfortable .

Couldn’t give less of a damn. Are they good at their job? That’s what matters to me.

Maybe have a word with Richard Branson about how you'd like to see more of his staff wearing thongs?

This!

I do feel for them as it's nothing to do with looking glamorous and everything to do with cheap, badly designed, ill fitting uniforms that look very uncomfortable to wear!

There was also an upper age limit for these women and they were encouraged to accept the attentions of wealthy male customers.

My last flight on Ryanair had cabin crew dressed in an awful uniform. Why they're expected to wear really tight skirts / trousers / shirts I do not know. Its hardly a uniform conducive to comfort in tight spaces!
In saying that, I wasn’t at all offended by their appearance, they did their jobs well, were polite, efficient and professional - which is what one would hope for in someone basically working in a service industry.

I think its simply a reflection of the times we live in and the fact that taking a budget flight is now akin to taking the bus.

I'm told that crew on private aircraft still dress very well but then I'd imagine they're paid a lot more (I dont know, Ive never been on a private plane).

I think they should all do what Air New Zealand did (watch carefully!)

Thing is - if your job basically entailed wearing unflattering colours of questionable quality with a layer or 3 of makeup every 4 or 5 days of the week while at times 'on shift' for hours at a time, crossing various time zones, wearing down your body's natural rhythm to the point of nothingness- existing in a non-tangible time and space then I'm sure you might look a bit shattered.

There's a world of difference between a flight attendant who looks quite literally unclean and dishevelled and one who has forgone theatrical concealer because it's no match for their dark under eye circles.

The male cabin crew looked the worst on my last flight, clearly they hadn't heard of an iron.

It's because the quality of the uniform is absolutely terrible. How glamorous can anyone make a pair of shite, polyester trousers or a badly cut, cheap blouse?

I'm so glad the women aren't made to wear high heels and red lipstick anymore. Imagine being on you feet all day in heels. I expect the uniforms are very cheaply made now to keep costs down.

I see this as entirely a positive development. What has happened is that while sexism is still endemic, the Overton window has gradually shifted to the point where a company can't reasonably mandate that a woman's sex appeal is a necessary part of her professional presentation. It's another little step away from the widespread commodification of women's bodies, and if it means you have to look at the odd pair of ill-fitting trousers, I'd call that a small price to pay 🤷🏻‍♀️

This x 1000

They are there for safety and to serve passengers.

Check your misogyny. Women don't have to "look pretty" for the male gaze to be able to do their jobs well. Times have moved on - a bit anyway. Still a long way to go but at least airlines have recognised that staff aren't there as sexual objects first and foremost.

Flying isn't glamorous. It's bloody hard work for the staff - especially dealing with lechy weirdos who look at their bums to see VPLs.

I also remember in the 90s that Virgin and maybe BA would make a big deal of having famous designers in to do the uniforms. Female staff were given a sort of makeover and expected to stick to the makeup colours/style their trainer had decided on for them.

Virgin especially were known for being very selective over their crew and had the ‘height and weight must be in proportion’ rule, possibly on their job adverts?

The crew were expected to change into high heels to walk through the airport, with a lower, but still heeled, court, while on board.

Im pretty sure they were on low salaries and it was possible to fail the training half way through the course and be let go.
I can’t remember if I learned this from those airline documentaries at Heathrow or Liverpool though!

That’s brilliant! I thought the blond guy was wearing a wetsuit or something until I twigged what was going on!

Would that stop her serving me a sandwich or helping me off the plane in an emergency?

@sprigatito excellent post.

My mate used to work for Emirates and she was weighed weekly to check she was still slim

Make up products etc regularly checked too

Put much better than I did!!

I fly Emirates most often and they're always glam looking with their red lipstick I think.

Last time we flew with them we were sitting at the back of the plane and at one stage my toddler went for a walk down to the end of the aisle (along with my husband) to where the flight attendants were sitting and came back up with biscuits and red lipstick kisses on his cheeks. 😅

Appearance is very low down the list of things that I appreciate in a flight attendant however, it really doesn't matter to me what they're wearing.