Fashion and Flying at the Museum of Flight

Do fashion and flying go together? They do if you consider the next temporary exhibit to grace the Museum of Flight (MOF) in Seattle.

“Runway to Runway,” a look at the history of flight attendant uniforms, is set to open later in April.

Depending on the decade, flight attendants (once known as stewards/stewardesses and air hosts/hostesses) were either seen as professional, reassuring figures in the aircraft cabin or glamorous aviation professionals that did so much more than serve food and beverages.

The exhibit explores the history and evolution of aircraft cabin crew from the days of the stewardess through the modern flight attendant.

“The display goes beyond style,” the MOF said in a news release. “While the uniforms reflect changing fashion trends, they also point to the realities of the job, including workplace expectations, gender roles, and racial barriers that shaped the profession.”

• READ MORE: Flight Attendant Career Paths Within an Airline
• READ MORE: Flight Attendant Career Paths Outside of an Airline

The exhibit includes artifacts from famous but now defunct airlines such as Pan Am, Hughes Airwest and Northwest to name a few.

History of the Flight Attendant

In the 1920s commercial air travel was in its infancy, with the wealthy flying aboard aircraft such as the Boeing Model 80A. The seats were made of wicker to save weight, and the cabin lacked insulation, so it was both loud and drafty. It was not uncommon for the copilot to perform cabin duties such as providing cotton balls for passengers to put in their ears to help block out the noise. They also provided airsick passengers with a lemon to suck and a bag just in case the fruit didn’t work.

In 1930 an Iowa nurse named Ellen Church, who was also one of the first women in the U.S. to earn a pilot’s certificate, applied to Boeing Air Transport (BAT) to be a pilot. At the time BAT had the contract to fly the mail between Chicago and San Francisco. 

Church learned from Steve Simpson, the manager at BAT’s San Francisco office, that the airline only hired male pilots and planned to hire male stewards as cabin crew. Church convinced Simpson that the traveling public would likely feel more comfortable with trained nurses aboard the aircraft, then went on to develop the training program for the first flight attendants.

Their first uniforms consisted of long, wool skirts and capes to combat the drafts in the aircraft. The flight attendants also faced strict height and weight requirements and had to be unmarried.

After the end of World War II, air travel became more readily accessible, and airlines began to flourish. By the 1960s and ’70s airlines were working with well-known fashion designers to create clothing that defined their public image.

These uniforms reflect the realities of the job along with the expectations of the public aboard the airliner. For many years it was not uncommon for passengers to get dressed up for flight, so they expected the flight attendants to be dressed up as well. There were even rules about the makeup shades flight attendants could wear.

Today flight attendants are the most forward-facing members of the flight crew and are required to undergo rigorous training and meet FAA medical requirements.

About the Exhibit

According to the Museum of Flight, a total of 13 uniforms representing eight airlines are featured in the exhibit.

Designers such as Emilio Pucci, Jean Louis, Valentino, and others contributed to uniforms that ranged from conservative looks to more experimental styles, featuring bold colors and even go-go boots.

The exhibition includes a collection of accessories that completed the uniforms, such as airline-issued bags and purses. There is an Alaska Airlines’ 1960s-era carpet bag along with the brightly colored designs by Hughes Airwest and Braniff.

Flight attendant headwear is also on display, ranging from clear plastic helmets (to show off the perfectly coiffed hair) to faux fur caps.

There are several examples of flight attendant scarves, an article of clothing that represents the airline branding with specific colors and designs.

The exhibit uses the uniforms as a gateway into the experiences of individual flight attendants and the barriers they broke. The first Black flight attendant in the U.S. was Ruth Carol Taylor. Taylor earned a nursing degree in 1955, applied to Trans World Airlines in 1957 but was rejected.

TWA refused to hire Taylor because at the time the airline only hired white women. Mohawk Airlines, a regional airline that operated between New York and Pennsylvania from 1945-72, had an interest in hiring qualified minority candidates and Taylor was selected in 1958. Her job lasted six months, ending when she got married, as the airline rules required flight attendants to be single.

The exhibit shares the story of Louise Greenwood Phipps, who was the first Black flight attendant for United Airlines. Recruited from a beauty pageant in Colorado, she began her career in 1967 after finishing college. She was fired a few years later when someone at United saw an announcement in the local paper and discovered she was engaged to be married. Today she is a college professor in California.

The MOF exhibit also explores the gender broadening of the flight attendant, such as the beginning of men being hired for a job that for decades had been viewed as still largely for females only.

The exhibit opens April 25 and runs through January 18 and is included with museum admission.