33 photos of flight attendants' uniforms that show how much they've changed
- Flight-attendant uniforms have evolved alongside fashion trends.
- In the '50s, most cabin crew members wore fitted blazers and modest, knee-length skirts.
Today, flight attendants often wear business-casual designs in classic color combinations of navy blue, red, black, and white.
But over the past century, uniforms for cabin crew members have evolved alongside fashion trends. In the '60s, for example, many airlines rolled out garments inspired by stylish mod designs, like sheath minidresses with stand-away collars and go-go boots.
By the 2000s, flight-attendant uniforms were more simple and streamlined, with some airlines prioritizing comfort over flair.
Below, see the evolution of flight-attendant uniforms at some of today's biggest airlines.
In the 1950s, flight attendants for American Airlines wore crisp navy-blue blazers and skirts.
The uniform featured a single-breasted jacket with three buttons and a tapered waist, worn over a white shirt with notch lapels and a knee-length skirt.
The airline's uniform got a trendy update in the late '60s.
The uniforms incorporated the colors of the American flag in several ways. The outfit itself — a mod-style sheath dress with a thick stand-away collar — came in red, white, and blue. It could be worn with or without a red, white, and blue belt.
In a 1967 campaign for the new uniforms, models accessorized the ensemble with white low-heeled pumps and red, white, and blue hair bows.
Currently, American Airlines flight attendants wear simple black dresses or suits with red and blue accents.
The menswear option for cabin-crew members is comprised of a black blazer, black pants, light-blue button-up, and blue tie.
The womenswear option is a black short-sleeved dress with buttons down the front and a fitted silhouette, paired with a red-and-blue scarf tied around the neck.
In 1959, Qantas flight attendants wore belted short-sleeved dresses.
The midi dress featured three buttons in the front and shawl lapels. Qantas crew members wore the outfit with a matching pillbox-like hat, as well as dark-colored heels and gloves.
From 1971 to 1974, the airline's uniforms were bright blue.
Crew members wore blue shift dresses over white short-sleeved turtlenecks or button-up shirts. The uniform also came with a matching blue jacket and blue hat with a red stripe in the middle.
Today, Qantas flight attendants wear belted navy-blue dresses with ruby-red and fuchsia stripes.
The airline's current uniforms were revealed in 2013 and launched the following year. The modern designs are the work of Australian designer Martin Grant.
In the late 1950s, Delta flight attendants wore fitted navy-blue blazers with large round buttons.
The jacket was worn over a collared white shirt and paired with a navy-blue skirt, heels, and pillbox hat.
According to Delta, this particular uniform was worn by flight attendants in the winter from 1957 to 1959.
The airline debuted a new uniform collection designed by Richard Tyler in 2006.
From 2006 to 2018, Delta cabin-crew members wore either a red wrap dress with a cinched waist or a midnight-blue suit with a white button-up and red tie.
Delta rolled out new uniforms in May 2018, but pulled them in 2020 after flight attendants said they caused health issues.
Designed by Zac Posen, the uniforms feature a bright-purple color called Passport Plum, as well as five other "wholly reimagined hues" including Cruising Cardinal, Groundspeed Graphite, Traveling Thistle, and Skyline Slate, according to the airline's official website.
Posen's collection includes a short-sleeved purple sheath dress with a glossy winged collar and a three-piece gray suit with a plum-colored tie and pocket square.
The outfits were phased out in 2020 after flight attendants began suffering from a range of symptoms that they said were linked to their uniforms, including skin lesions, fatigue, migraines, and hair loss, Insider's David Slotnick reported.
"In response to our employees, we've taken steps over the past few months to address feedback received about the uniform, including offering alternative garments, hiring fabric experts, and conducting comprehensive chemical testing," the director of Delta's new uniform program said in a statement, CBS News reported. "This is a big decision, but we side with our people, and we are making a change."
This year, Delta announced that flight attendants will be able to wear pronoun pins attached to their name pins.
The new uniforms, designed by Tracy Reese and made in partnership with Brooks Brothers and Carhartt, will be part of a 2025 United collection, Insider's Taylor Rains reported. The pronoun pins will be available sooner.
"This new feature gives our employees the option to celebrate their years of service with our airline while also identifying in the way that feels most true to themselves," United told Insider in a statement.
From 1967 to 1970, the uniform for Japan Airlines flight attendants included sky-blue blazers and matching knee-length skirts.
The uniform was designed by Hanae Mori and came with white gloves, black low-heeled pumps, and a rounded sky-blue hat, according to the airline's official website.
Then, for most of the '70s, cabin-crew members sported dark-blue minidresses.
Also designed by Hanae Mori, the uniform was worn with a glossy red belt and dark-blue shoes — both of which featured large red discs reminiscent of Japan's flag.
Flight attendants accessorized the ensemble with white gloves, black tights, a blue and red scarf, and a wide, rounded hat.
Since 2013, Japan Airlines flight attendants have worn crisp uniforms designed by Keita Maruyama.
The collection includes a classic black suit, a tailored jacket with gold buttons, an A-line skirt, and a belted short-sleeved dress.
United's first uniform for flight attendants was forest-green and gray.
According to The United Airlines Historical Foundation, the ensemble consisted of a pale-gray blouse, double-breasted wool blazer, and pleated calf-length skirt — all worn under a matching cape with a collar.
Flight attendants accessorized the uniform with a forest-green beret.
From 1968 to 1970, United flight attendants wore a collection of mod-style minidresses designed by Jean Louis.
Made of double-knit wool, the shift dress featured short sleeves and a thick white stripe around the neckline and down the front. The item came in four combinations of the colors "Hawaiian Sunset" (coral red), "Maliblue" (navy blue), and "Miami Sands" (off-white), according to SFO Museum.
Attendants wore the dress with a structured military-style hat, according to The United Airlines Historical Foundation.
Currently, the airline's uniforms are contemporary and business casual.
Introduced in 2013, the collection includes black trousers, skirts, sweaters, vests, and blazers with two silver lines on the sleeves.
Womenswear options include two styles of dresses: a black sheath dress and a royal-blue sheath dress with black stripe detailing.
In the late '50s, flight attendants for Scandinavian Airlines wore classic navy-blue uniforms.
The ensemble included a collared off-white shirt, fitted jacket with four large gold buttons, calf-length pleated skirt, and structured baker boy-style cap.
The airline released a new summer uniform in 1967.
According to Scandinavian Traveler, Scandinavian Airlines' online magazine, the uniform was designed by French couture house Carven, which was acquired by China's Icicle Fashion Group in October 2018.
Today, Scandinavian Airlines flight attendants wear navy-blue outfits with royal-blue accents.
The collection was designed by Ted Bernhardtz and includes colorful patterned scarves, which Amandah Andersson made exclusively for the airline, Women's Wear Daily reported.
Southwest Airlines had trendy mod-style uniforms in the late '60s.
Flight attendants wore orange T-shirts and red short shorts or orange minidresses, accessorized with thick white belts and matching go-go-style boots.
In 2017, the airline rolled out its first new uniforms in 20 years.
Womenswear options include a black shift dress with blue and red stripes and a gray shift dress with black and red stripes. The menswear option includes a black blazer, gray vest, gray trousers, and red tie.
In the late '60s, Aeroflot uniforms included eye-catching hats.
The tall, structured cap was rounded on the top, forming a distinct, crescent-like shape. Cabin crew members wore the hat with fitted blazers and skirts.
Two decades later, the airline's flight attendants wore classic navy-blue ensembles.
In the mid-'80s, Aeroflot's uniforms still included a unique hat with a rounded top.
Today, Aeroflot flight attendants can be easily recognized, thanks to their vintage-inspired, bright-red outfits.
The uniforms feature accessories such as matching hats, scarves, and shoes, as well as white gloves.
In the 1960s, French designer Marc Bohan of Christian Dior created couture flight-attendant uniforms for Air France.
The winter uniform featured a navy skirt suit with a buttoned jacket and white undershirt, while the summer uniform came in a lighter Marceau blue and included a tie at the waist, according to Air France's official website.
Three fashion houses revamped the Air France uniforms in 1978 with bold checkered prints.
Nina Ricci designed Air France's winter uniform consisting of a red checkered shirt and navy skirt, and Grès designed the winter coat that went along with it. Carven created the checkered summer ensemble, according to Air France's official website.
In the 2010s, Air France flight attendants wore simple navy dresses with red sashes.
A flight attendant wore the uniform to model Air France's new first-class haute-couture suite in 2014.
Today, cabin crews on Air France wear navy suits with white ties.
The matching navy hats still feature the Air France crest embellishment that was part of the uniform in the 1960s.
In the 1970s, British Airways flight attendants wore pinstriped sets with white shirts and double-breasted overcoats.
Models Myrtle Winston, Diane Edmunds, Sonia Pugin, and Chris Harris showed off the British Airways uniforms on the streets of London in 1977.
In 1985, Roland Klein designed new British Airways uniforms.
Women wore striped dresses and skirts with navy blazers, while men wore navy jackets with grey pants.
In 1993, Irish designer Paul Costello gave British Airways a new look.
Costello's version of the British Airways uniform featured patterned blouses and bowler hats embellished with red and blue ribbons.
The bowler hats were replaced with garrison caps in the 2000s.
Created by Julien Macdonald, the contemporary flight-attendant uniforms include a navy suit with a subtle pinstripe pattern over a white shirt and red-and-blue checkered scarf, The Daily Mail reported.
British Airways unveiled new uniforms this year, including options like a jumpsuit for women as well as a hijab and tunic.
As Insider's Grace Dean reported, designer Ozwald Boateng utilized sustainable fabrics for 90% of the garments in the new collection.
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