Attire while flying
 

How do you dress while flying? Would you dress any differently if flying F as opposed to Y or vice versa?

I guess I still like to dress nicely when I fly, whether it's for business or leisure. Somehow I know I won't be any more comfortable in jeans & a t-shirt than in a nice pair of slacks.

And besides, no matter where I go, I'm going to need a nice pair of slacks. So I might as well wear them. Same with a jacket of some sort.

Rita

From what I have observed, people in international F tend to dress much more casually. ..e.g. Johnnie Depp in AF, FC in torn jeans and tee-shirt last year. Some will opt to change into the P.J.'s offered in international FC right before take-off.
If you have a confirmed FC class seat, wear whatever is comfortable. I would exclude shorts and tank-tops.

Good advice on International flying. I try to select a balance between style and comfort and there are a lot of clothing options nowadays. When traveling International, I know I eventually have to check into a (usually) first class hotel so I try not to dress too casually for the flight. If I'm delayed on check-in and need to kill time in the area I'd at least try not to look like something the cat dragged in.

I don't even take jeans with me anymore when traveling. They take up too much space in the bag, and are always setting off the detectors, so for me it's a business casual look unless it's some type of meeting where I need a suit, but I'm likley to have the tie in my jacket pocket until I land.

Once I started getting upgraded fairly frequently, I do try to look a bit better for flights, shave first, all that stuff, so I guess you could say I do dress better on the hope of moving up front.

As a paying passenger I wear blue or black Wranglers (I don't have too many Levi's left), a clean T-shirt with a Christian message of some sort (tucked in, with a belt), a pair of Tony Lama cowboy boots, and a black cowboy hat. Just the same way I dress for work.

Depends on destination and purpose of trip
 

If my destination/purpose is business, then one set of my business clothes (whether that's my suit, uniform, whatever I have to have at destination. That way if I arrive and my luggage goes missing, my trip isn't ruined.

If it's casual, jeans, a cotton shirt and jacket if I'm taking one on the trip (so I don't have to pack it) and in case of temp shifts on the trip.

Okay, I will bite, Loose Cannon. What is it that you do?

And I wear whatever is clean. I dont get the whole dressing up thing. I never look like a total slob unless for a good reason so there is no reason to look like one on an airplane. Then again, I dont wear closed shoes unless for a good reason, so I dont find it necessary to wear them to fly. Do what makes you feel comfortable.

I only have shorts and t-shirts so that is what I wear. :)

[QUOTE=Darren]Okay, I will bite, Loose Cannon. What is it that you do?

I drive truck for a living. With my latest gig I shuttle trucks from place to place and I often fly to get to the customer where I pick up the truck.

I dress super casual. At most, polo shirt and jeans -- often t-shirt and shorts. In fact, I've done RTW's in C in tshirts and shorts :)

Steve

Recently my policy has been never too smart, never too casual and always comfortable. I wouldn't be seen dead in a business suit on a long flight but I wouldn't wear jeans either. Its been a good policy as since I stopped dressing really casual I've even been given a couple of upgrades.

I buy Travelsmith, Eddie Bauer, etc. clothes- comfortable and respectable in anything but traditional business dress situations. If I know I'm flying Business, I wear a jacket. No shorts or sandals on planes- no shorts because you never know when you'll be frozen out by too much A/C and no sandals because I move better through the airport in sneakers. So, I usually look decent.

I travelled with cheapo Ryanair to and from a business meeting in Scotland (meeting 2 miles from Ryanair's airport), in my suit of course, a rare commodity on many Ryanair flights. And nosing around the airport at Prestwick on my way home got me into the otherwise closed and locked Business lounge right next to the gate, on my own.

I could hear the crowd baying at the gate outside and was getting ready to join them when to my surprise the gate agent opened the door, said "um ... we're ready for you now sir", and let me out ahead of the other 100 or so jeans and shell-suited travellers, who all instantly fell quiet and gaped. It must have been quite a scene. So you see, a suit can get you priority boarding on Ryanair, which many would say doesn't exist.

Quite separately, I notice that suits seem to have disappeared almost entirely from C class intercontinental flights. Even those who come straight from the office to evening flights seem to get changed first nowadays.

Depends on what I'm going to do when I get off the plane. Leisure trips mean anything from shorts and a t-shirt to khakis and a polo shirt.

If it's for business, I wear the suit on the plane (no tie) because I have yet to find a piece of luggage that won't wrinkle my suit :(

Bottom line: I don't think there is any appropriate or inappropriate way to dress when flying F. HOWEVER, I always wear the suit and tie when flying coach in hopes of getting the last minute upgrade. ;)

Outbound in the summer: Shorts, a button-down business casual shirt that I will press and wear again one day at the job site, dockers-style slip on shoes. Too hot in VPS on a Sunday afternoon to do otherwise.

Outbound in the winter: Business casual dress, which lets me avoid packing one pair of pants in my carryon, offset by the obligatory jacket for warmth when I get to my job site.

Inbound, summer or winter: The business casual I usually am wearing from the job site. It'll be at night when I arrive in Florida so the heat isn't so much of a concern in summer, and sometimes the jacket is nice to have handy in the winter.

I, too, never bring jeans. Too heavy. In summer, after hours, I can wear the shorts I came in on, and in winter, my business casual pants are fine. I always keep a pair of warm gloves permanently in the carryon, summer or winter, as I do not need them at home, and it saves me from trying to find them when winter comes.

In general: I, too, never pack blue jeans. While I love 'em, they are too, too, heavy to be putting in my carryon. In the summer, the shorts I wore outbound are fine to slip into after work; int he winter, the long pants I wore to work are fine. By picking the wardrobe(shirts match w/multiple pants and vice-versa), I can pack 2 weeks' worth of business dress into the carryon. Also, just 2 pr of shoes, usually, one of which I wear outbound, so just one pr has to go into the carryon.

Guess I'm lucky being a guy, as I am continually amazed at how much stuff my wife and daughter have to pack even for a 2-day weekend! :)

I prefer casual wear (side note the most of my travel is leisure) jeans, cargo pants or chino in combination with a button down and (depending on my destination) a sweatshirt (-jacket) or a T-shirt underneath. I would not wear shorts and tank tops in a plane, as I do not feel comfort-able in shorts in a plane (due to the a/c).

I also have some clothes in my hand luggage, which I could easy reach and change to, if this is necessary.

And I make not difference between Business and Economy (and will not if I will fly in First).

Nonbody has discussed footwear
 

I work for an airline. With that said, how many of us have ever been on an emergency landing? One where there's smoke in the cockpit? One where you have to bail out?

I have. It blows too.

Now, how many times have you seen people board aircraft with flip-flops or
high heels? While those shoes have their place, IMHO they belong in the rollerboard & not on one's feet on an aircraft.

What are the chances of things going badly? To me they are 50/50. Either we do or we don't. Granted these are (thankfully) very rare occasions. But every time I go to work, in back of my mind, I wonder what someone has innocently packed that should have been left at home.

I feel much better now as I don't have to fly again until tomorrow.

Wait till I start a thread on HazMat... :eek:

My husband and I dress casually. Both in slacks, a nice shirt and easy on/off shoes for security.

Once we were the weird couple that dressed alike, black slacks and a green shirt.

I dress in a business casual - churchlike way. We have a dress code for travelling standby and it is just easier to err on the dressy side of things. I have to dress my husband or we will have problems, such as no socks or a collarless shirt. He is getting better and last time we travelled he did good.

I wear what I feel comfortable in be it church attire or clubwear. :rolleyes:

Jeans, jeans, jeans...
 

Love my jeans. :)

Usual attire is blue jeans, 3/4th sleeve t-shirt under a short sleeve t-shirt. (it's ALWAYS cold on planes.) Black shoes.

There's a severe difference between casual vs. unkempt... You can pull off casual and still look good. This month's Details has a good article on that - how if you're going to wear jeans and a t-shirt, wear an expensive suit jacket and that offsets it.

-Peter

I tend to make sure I'm comfortable so it's usually tshirt/polo shirt, either jeans or combats and either trainers or comfy shoes. I find that your attitude says a lot more about you than your clothes providing you're clean and relatively tidy and people tend to respond to you far better. I've seen people complaining about botched transfers greeted with stony faces and unhelpful attitudes and had the same gate staff be polite and helpful just moments later to people with a far more "professional" attitude.

On the suit front, nothing leaves a worse impression on me than meeting people who look like they've slept in their clothes. Providing you've got a decent sized bag, you can keep your trousers flat and then, if neccesary, wear your jacket on the plane and get an attendant to hang it somewhere or store it relatively flat.

Never shorts. Never sandals (don't own any, anyway). Always, a shirt with a pocket (it's just handy). Sometimes a suit, if I need it on the trip, or needed the room in the luggage on the way back. Cotton or wool pants, cotton shirt. I also like shoes that don't tie, simply because of the X-Ray process.

Airplanes are very dirty places. Because of this I never wear shorts or sandals onboard. For that reason, and the fact that I don't like someone else's skin touching mine if I happen to be flying in coach I always wear long sleeved shirts while flying.

I also always keep my shoes on while onboard for hygenic reasons. Seriously, why do people take their shoes off? I even see people going barefoot into the lavatories. That is pretty disgusting.

If I am coming/going directly to/from a client site or one of our other offices, I'll wear dress slacks, dress shirt, and tie. Otherwise, it's usually jeans and either a button-down Polo shirt or a golf shirt, depending on the weather. For a flight to/from Europe, I'll pack a black t-shirt and long black workout pants and change once I'm on the plane. That's also the only time I'll take off my shoes on a plane, but I pack a second pair of clean socks.

I usually wear khakis or a nice pair of pants with a Chicos travelers top or a polo or a sweater. I can't remember the last time I packed a pair of jeans. I usually wear slip on shoes. I don't usually wear sandals but I sometimes do if on a short weekend trip in the summer such as the one I just took to Phoenix from DFW in August. I prefer to not look too sloppy because I think when you look nicer you are very often treated nicer. I very often wear a pair of black and white minicheck trousers with a black Chicos top. On my last trip to England in business I sat next to a woman in J in the same travel "uniform". We looked like twins. :) I guess I am not the only one that finds that particular outfit to be practical travel attire.

The lottery must love you, that's probably 50/50 to you too, either you win or you don't.

It is disgusting when people (especially men) wear those sandals where their feet are overflowing from all sides of the sandals...

I avoid shorts on planes. Otherwise I've traveled in anything from a suit & tie to jeans and sneakers, regardless of class of service. And if the only thing I'm doing that is traveling, I often don't shave. :)

And I second the taking off of shoes -- I avoid it like the plague. The only times I've done it is on the overnight int'l flights where I put the extra socks from those amentiy kits on over my own socks. I especially don't understand people who do it before takeoff. Those shoes could become dangerous in case of an emergency....

First, Business, or Economy, Domestic or International, I usually wear a loose (one size too big) dress shirt with no tie, slacks, and deck shoes. On occasion, I will swap the dress shirt for a polo.

For shirts, I'll pick from the ones the REI sells that look nice enough to be business casual, lots of colors & styles to chose from, comfortable enough to wear on long flights, and durable enough for active pursuits at my destination...think "versatile." AND, when I buy them thru an airline mall's website, I'll get miles for them! :) (has come in handy when NWA does their Fly-Free-Faster promo's over the summer).
I do see more and more people wearing shorts on planes now, incl. cargo shorts, or those North Face zip-off-pants shorts....
I do remember times where I've "flown south" during the winter, yet had to sport the full winter gear incl. jeans, to shovel a lot of new snow & ice off my driveway, to get my car out in time to make barely make my flight---and looking like some kinda' winter-wonderland dork when connecting at...MIA...in December. Couldn't just leave the gloves & hat & sweater in the car, since they're needed when returning to the cold. And, At 6'6", I just couldn't maneuver changing in the MD-80 lav. en-route to MIA.

I tend to fly in slacks and a polo or my black standard-fit levy's but sometimes I go in my slacks, dress shirt, or slacks, dress shirt and tie. If I'm going somewhere cold, then also a jacket, otherwise I pack the jacket if I'm bringing one at all.

Men in sandals = Indecent Exposure IMO. :td:

Good point.
 

Wow, yeah; that would be a situation I would hate to run into but certainly; I see a lot of women in thong shoes and I'm like, "those wont hold very well if you gotta go RUNNING out of the airplane in a hurry, heh." :D

Just so long as the passenger IS wearing something, I suppose. :D
Hey, I wouldn't mind at all if Milla Jovovich wanted to fly next to me in any cabin in just a thong swimsuit. ;)

I guess it's one of my pet peeves of people who dress really slovenly (in the old days people used to dress up for travelling on the plane) these days.

It's OK to dress casual as long as it's neat, clean and you are groomed properly. I avoid shorts and sandals because of the A/C. I try to wear deeply patterned shirts or at least avoid white shirts knowing that I tend to spill things on my shirt whilst inflight.

I also agree that if you are dressed up a bit, and act in a professional manner, staff tend to treat you better, which may come in handy when you need their help (e.g. when flights are delayed, canceled, etc.).

I always dress for comfort and practicality. For long-haul flights, I find jeans too heavy and restricting to sleep, so generally wear a smart/casual pair of trousers like Dockers which I find much more comfortable than jeans.

I always wear a micro-fibre shirt that does not need ironing, and prefer to have a pocket in the shirt to keep my passport and boarding pass while walking through the airport so I don't have to keep digging into my carry-on bag. On BA flights, I always wear a short-sleeve shirt since their cabins are always a few degrees warmer than I would prefer. Otherwise the sleeve length suits the destination weather conditions, and since I often change hemispheres, that often means changing season between source and destination.

I find my most confortable shoes for both walking and just wearing for long periods.

On long-haul flights I always carry two spare pairs of socks, two spare shirts and two spare pairs of underwear, and will grab a shower at every opportunity I can at intermediate airport lounges.

Cultural differences I guess. To me it looks perfectly normal (as long as they don't include socks).

Several years ago my wife and I flew to Europe from the U.S. on USAir buddy passes. Our friends had read the rules and had told us they said we needed to be dressed in something better than jeans and sneakers if we wanted to be able to buy an upgrade for $50. I thought that sounded like hogwash (I didn't understand at the time what a buddy pass was), so we showed up in jeans and sneakers. No dice, while our friends, also on buddy passes, got business class seats for $50. On the return flight, I put on my one pair of khakis and the hiking boots that were the only other pair of shoes I had brought. We almost got the $50 upgrade, until the head check-in agent saw my shoes and said, "No way am I letting you upgrade in shoes like that" (and they weren't even muddy or scuffed up or anything).

These days there's so much less left to the discretion of gate agents or flight attendants, that essentially all of my upgrades are earned. But I still dress reasonably well because it can make a difference when dealing with someone who does have discretion, or just in the way I'm treated.