When I was in Tokyo, I never dressed particularly outlandishly (jeans and a shirt, untucked, mostly), but I always felt like the Hippie Tourist.

On weekends, Tokyoans dress down a lot - they wear their suits WITHOUT TIES. :)

I dress like a 'bum' on a plane (leisure or biz travel on travel/off-days)
and more nicely on public wheeled transport (to work)

But god forbid we dont meet your antiquated standards

When I first started traveling in F/J/C, I used to wear a baseball cap, jeans, and a t-shirt. I then slowly migrated to dress shirt, tie, and dress pants. In the last few years I have found middle ground. Stylish sneakers (i.e. Lacoste/Fred Perry), untucked collared shirt, casual sports blazer, and jeans.

International F or domestic Y, I dress in whatever is comfortable. If that means cargo shorts and a t-shirt, so be it.

There's a time and a place for formal dress, and I just don't think that a passenger jet qualifies as one of those places. You're just there to get from point A to point B, not to engage in a formal event.

This is the part that I find silly, conceptually:

Guy 1: I am sitting in F, I should dress up
Guy 2: What about pax in Y?
Guy 1: Why would they need to dress up? They're in Y.

Sitting in F doesn't mean I'm more respectable/classy/etc than someone sitting in Y, it's just a hilarious perception issue. The need to further socially separate oneself from Y pax by dressing formally is an antique idea.

Dressing formally just because you like dressing formally, great. Have a blast, nothing wrong with looking dashing whenever possible, on a plane or otherwise. But my interest is being comfortable and well rested when I hit the ground and get to work, so I'll dress for comfort 10 times out of 10.

In an emergency situation they can come off or get hung up a lot easier than fully enclosed shoes. You wouldn't want to walk thru burning jet fuel, broken glass or twisted metal barefoot.

For the same reason I always wear lace-up shoes rather than loafers that could fly off in an emergency, despite the extra few seconds of hassle at security. Also, I try to wear cotton clothing rather than synthetics / blends because cotton doesn't melt in heat. If I'm flying J/F overseas I wear neat but comfortable twill pants and a long-sleeve cotton dress shirt or sport shirt.

What about wool? Wool does not ignite as easily as cotton...

How many people in the history of the world have died because they wore flip flops or the like instead of laceups on an airplane? If one is concerned about risks such as this, one should also never step foot in a bathtub (risk of slipping), nor perhaps ever step outside (risk of lightning).

I don't wear flip flops on airplanes, but that's only because my feet would get cold.

A few proposals for airplane dress codes.

i was waiting for someone to respond to the safety-centric dressing with rationality ^

I too agree it would be nice to have folks a little more upscale in First. I'm appalled at folks in flip flops putting their feet up on bulk head walls and generally looking like a hobo. Yeah, I get the "rights" thing, but what ever happened to style and grace?

I'm still in the "wear a blazer" up front. YOU set the standards.

I'd just like to know whatever happened to the notion that style and grace is about what's inside and not what kind of fabric is covering a person? :confused:

First I have to see you before I talk to you. :)

It is not so much the "clothes" per se, but the overall appearance. I have seen slobs beyond belief in suits with manners that correspond with their appearance and others in what was very modestly priced clothing but put together well, height and weight within a normal range, and with solid manners and self dignity.

Still, there should be some decorum of dress for a F class cabin like no tank tops for the men and no Daisey Dukes for the Women. And it never ceases to amaze me seeing 300 pound men with flab abound wearing a tank top and believing that some how they look "sexy" for the ladies. Yuck:td:

Someone can be dressed in a suit in F and still be an obnoxious a$$hole pounding the free drinks talking loudly about himself the entire flight to seatmates that could care less and just want some peace and quite. Acting classy isn't about wearing a jacket. It's about consideration for the people around you.

I'll agree that there are and should be some taboos, but that all comes back to common courtesy and consideration when in close quarters with a bunch of strangers.

If someone is quiet, polite, dry, odorless, and keeps in their personal space, I could care less if they are in a ballcap and long sleeve T or in a tuxedo.

peace,
~Ben~

IDK Have you looked? The chance of dying is very low but it could easily make the difference in walking away unscathed and getting a serious burn or cut on your feet. It's no big deal to put shoes on instead of flip flops so why not? My father in law was in the Air Force long enough to be a Lt. Col. so I am sure from experience and his training he saw the reasoning for it. It's all about doing easy little things in life that keep a should be a minor situation from turning into a bigger problem.

The people who made that rule were very well dressed.

Yer darn right. Take a look at what's left of Continental 1404 and see if you'd care to try to stumble out of there in flip-flops:

http://photos.denverpost.com/photopr...bum-4341&num=1

I mean, you just never know.

I might have a few extra stitches in my feet if I were wearing flip-flops but I sure guarantee I would have been off that plane just as quickly one way or the other:D. Mom always said make sure you wear clean undies too because you never know when you might be in an accident and wind up in the hospital.

Here's one answer: http://photobucket.com/images/ugly%20feet/

Yup, that's my reason. I don't want your bare feet anywhere near me. I don't want to walk through security even in my socks on a floor that your bare feet touched. I especially don't want your bare feet within inches of me if I am in Y. It's a hygien thing for me.

I just threw up in my mouth.

I must admit, when on a full fare f or j ticket (where there is no F class available) I tend to dress in jeans and a shirt and "God forbid" flip flops - I am fairly young compared to many other passengers, and if I were smart, folk would wrongly assume I had been upgraded and worked for the airline. I tend to look at other smartly dressed youngsters and assume they are staff! Having spoken to other passengers in this catorgory, this is usually the case! So for me casual every time!

I wear what I am wearing to work, so business casual on Monday mornings, and Jeans with golf shirt on Friday afternoons.

When I do get upgraded on a Friday, I see a lot of people wearing what you would expect to see in a typical office on casual Friday.

I also see folks in T-Shirts, dirty jeans, and steal toed boots while carrying a hard hat. I think someone dressed like that belongs in first class just as much as anybody, especially if they travel regularly. They, like myself, probably go strait from work to the airport.

Well, for one thing you could have your big toe ripped off in the ORD Admirals Club.

You have an infinitely better chance of dieing or being injured driving your car to work than by wearing flip flops on on air plane. However, I don't think we'll be seeing many advocates for not driving cars.

Although, I understand and accept why you would not want to wear or have people wear flip flops on air planes. That's totally up to you and I won't take a side either way. Just wanted to put that out there.

Yeah we all know the most dangerous part of flying is driving to the airport. I don't think that anyone here is advocating not doing anthing that has risk. We are just pointing out easy things to do to help your safety.

Yes, but because of the infinitesimally small possibility of that happening, you could apply that to anything.

I could just as easily say flip flops could save you by not allowing your shoe or laces to be caught in some wreckage and you having to take precious second to dislodge it instead of just sliding your foot out of the flip flop. However, there is such a remote possibility of either situation it just seems ludicrous to mention. That's all.

Some people evidently have a kind of foot-phobia

I always try to look my best
 

Whenever i fly in First Class I wear a nice shirt pants and shoes. I feel that it represents who you are and it shows respect. If its an overnight flight then I would wear a nice polo shirt and a pressed pair of jeans or chinos. I consider flying in First Class like going to a business conference.

Now let me let you in on a little secret when I was 17 I flew in First Class from SJC-CDG-SJC and I was dressed in a suit and I had wine and beer without any questions asked. No check of the ID nada. Also on a flight from SJC-JFK-SJC when I was 18 no check of ID and I had wine and a Baileys no check of id. And in 2005 before I turned 21 I had another flight where there were no ID checks for alcohol. So my point is dressing up makes you look older. The flight attendant thought I was a 30 year old businessmen going to a conference.


Anyways dressing up does pay off.

Do Japanese schoolchildren feel their uniforms appropriate to wear on weekends?

Respect for what? Unless you're a nonrev, travelling in F isn't a privilege, it's a right paid for with a large sum of money/miles.

Aren't you the famous danielonn who thought you were going to get the VIP red carpet treatment because you were flying on your birthday?:D

Agreed. It is not even semiformal.
In Y, yes.
Ask it like this: Y gets you from point A to point B - why spend huge sums extra to fly in C or F on the same trip?

A major point to fly C/F is to be seen spending money. Prove that you have the money to spend on unnecessary things, and the willingness to spend it.

Which is pointless if only complete strangers see you spending money. The point of business class/jet set is that the other rich people would recognize you and remember having seen you when you have dealings with them later.

But excess money and willingness to spend it is not the only thing to show off. That´s what dresscode is for: publicise your respect for those around. If you dress for comfort rather than for an informal event, what are you publicising? Bad publicity is worse than no publicity.

42? Hardly young are we? ;):p:p:D

no doubt. i have worn flip flops in f. i fly fll-ewr, fll-las alot. i also wear a 15k rolex. does that make up for my shoes? :)

Bare Feet are a Personal Irritation to Me
 

Well, maybe the Rolex helps a little bit (better than 'golden nugget jewelry'. Your entire ensemble probably fits together quite well and the flip flops look a bit high end.

Bare feet are a problem. Here is a video I did about bare feet on my flights. Thats right, I pulled out my video camera.

Bare Feet In Flight Video from You Tube

No, but making sure other people know the list price of your wristwatch makes you something else altogether. :rolleyes:

guess you didnt detect my sarcasm...

A couple of notes..

How the Japanese let their hair down can easily we seen in a Wii commercial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiWuTopIrxk

The general idea is that if it can be bought at the GAP you're good. And japanese school children wear their uniforms for everything, including some serious parkour:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfKxpmnAFRw

That said, the dressing-down of airlines directly relates to the dressing-down of a visit to a Disney theme park. What happened? The 70's.

Disney originally denied improperly dressed hippies from entering Disneyland. Even being a male with long hair kept you out. Social norms changed and Disneyland let them in. The same likely happened in air travel.

Especially since there are far less expensive watches of better quality..

I am all for dress comfortably on an airplane, especially on TPAC/TATL flights. However, if someone clothes needs constant readjusting to avoid revealing too much then I think it is inapporpriate. Case in point, I was flying back from LHR last week in C, my seat mate was wearing some low cut sweat pants that she needs to pull her pants up everytime getting in and out of her seat. Come on, wear something that will cover all your private area please!