I'll dress up for F again when the service in F is like this again.

For me, flying in C/F is about comfort and not about conspicuous consumption. High heels and skirts ceased to be appropriate for me on a plane during an Atlantic storm where passengers had to literally jump the gap from the plane to the tunnel. (Yes we were assisted but that winter wind was COLD!) Now I wear what is comfortable. If I don't want to make space for my hikers (broken in and slightly ugly footwear) in my luggage, you bet I'll wear them, no matter where I am on the plane. And honestly, I prefer my business suits endure the flight delays/line-ups/seats with foreign crud/in-flight bathrooms in my luggage.

My last three military assignments were all Flag Grade posts and as I was representing the General when traveling I always wore a suit (you never knew when you might end up sitting next to a senior staff office). When I left the service the attire never changed for business travel. For personal travel its an open neck shirt and slacks.

No, I guess not.

My dresscode, be it work or play, is jeans and a t-shirt/short sleeve button-up. While it's not at all sloppy, it's also not formal. My reasoning is that wearing a suit onboard (and I've done this plenty of times) is uncomfortable, so I choose comfort over looks. It's worked so far and the only people to give me cross looks when I'm sitting in F probably should take a look at themselves first. :)

My dress code is green for air travel and restaurants.

I pay for the service, I don't dress to impress the vendor.

If the steak dinner was free in exchange for me dressing up, I might do it...but the cut and preparation of the meat would have to be really, really good for me to consider it...Sullivans, Mortons, or Ruth's Chris minimum.

At work and for clients, I don't begrudge a monkey suit...they give me the green.

If I am footing the bill, I dress as I please. If the vendor has an issue with it, I find another vendor.

I can beat that - the best of both worlds - I have a 30K Patek Phillipe watch - cost me £10 about three years ago - I was assured it was genuine by the salesman.... at the market stall in Penang. Anyway 3 years on still going strong, looks great and doesn't lose a second with it's auto wind mechanism. I'll eventually leave it as part of my estate, it's holding it's value a lot better than my house at the moment :D Unfortunately, the fancier the watch the more I assume that, like me, you bought it in a market in Asia

Seriously, why the hell dress up smart to sit on a plane. F/J/Y it's all the same - public transport - I'm so clumsy why do I want to spill food and drink and ruin yet another £50 tie or look like a fool with a nice white shirt with a big stain on it. I'll be dressing for comfort and practicality i.e something to hide the consequences of my clumsyness along the way. If for some reason I need to look smart coming off any public transport I'll worry about that when I'm packing for the trip and 5 minutes before I get out of said Taxi, bus, train, plane.

lol. i was just poking fun at the folks who equate success, or status, by clothing or something as silly as a wristwatch.

At least in my company (investment bank), this game is all about insecurity among middle management. The executive-level people are so inherently powerful that they don't really care how they look. The uber-peons, on the other hand, try to outdo each other so they look less like peons.

Anyway, I think there's a big difference between this particular game and the notion of a "dress code" in an office, club, restaurant, airplane or wherever. The dress code is not there to show success or status. The dress code is there to show respect for yourself and for the people around you. Sure, you can say it doesn't matter, but it does matter to a lot of people, including the people who are giving you service.

Perhaps I say this because my mother was at one point an assistant manager in the MIA Admirals Club, and constantly sharing stories of the famous or powerful people who came through there--invariably accompanied by some line like "Sean Connery looked just as dignified and majestic in real life" or "KISS were dressed like a bunch of construction workers and the girls out front didn't even want to let them in."

If you find me flying, if it's for formal business of course you'll find me in a business shirt with tie, trousers and a suit jacket.

Any other time, no matter which class (although I haven't flown F yet), you'll see me in jeans and a collared shirt, with closed shoes. And I do not mean ripped or torn jeans. The shirt is collared - not a t-shirt - but obviously long or short sleeved as appropriate.

I think I adopt a smart casual style when travelling. Personally I don't see anything wrong with that, even in premium classes. Enforcing people in premium classes to wear formal attire may seem more classy and distinctive, but in the end I think is unnecessary and pompous.

This thread caused me to remember Caddyshack's slobs vs. snobs humor. Ty Webb (Chevy Chase) vs. the stuffed shirt Judge Smails, that scene where Danny dresses up in the sailing suit with cap and ascot to "fit in" and impress, etc.

Bushwood. :D

Unless she's stunning of course! :p

On the whole, the French do manage to dress better than almost any other group except for the Italians.

great post. i call those middle management types the "near rich". they are the only ones who care about such trivial things. location is a big factor as well. when in nj i find the rat race to be in full swing. folks that earn maybe 150k but live in million dollar homes, with cl500's in the driveway, all talking about how they're gonna make the mortgage payment. in south florida it is a little more serene. no one cares who has what nor do i. when i travel, or go anywhere for that matter, i only expect people to be neat. i could care less if someone has a 4k suit on or they bought their dockers at wallmart. if you must dress for work then that is different. when i traveled for work we had to wear ties. i was a hockey player. not exactly surrounded by the tie wearing types. always found it funny watching grown men scramble to get someone to tie it for them so they would not be fined.

^ Bingo! That's exactly how I feel.

I'll often dress up for a nice dinner out or similar date-like-event because it's fun to do on occasion and my wife likes to see me dressed up.

Otherwise, dress the same pretty much any time I leave the house: khakis, and either a short-sleeve buttonup shirt or a polo. For longer flights, I tend to wear one of my more casual short-sleeve buttonups, because the more dress-shirt-ish ones tend to wrinkle too much and the polos tend not to wear well in other ways.

Damn Hippies.

And precisely what for are the airlines handing out free pajamas?

For long flights I wear what is comfortable as no matter what I start with, it doesn't look so good after a 10hr flight.

Apparently, I don't meet dress code requirements...

I was wearing jeans, a t-shirt and a baseball cap for a domestic flight in F.
None of my clothes were wrinkly, I just looked casual.
As F began boarding, I merged in with the others. A woman looks at me and sneers: "This is the first class line", to which I responded: "Good, I must be in the right place then". She turned around and didn't say anything anymore.

Maybe I should put on that penguin suit after all, next time.

What I have found is that the truly wealthy will wear whatever the heck they want. I know I do. I usually wear a t shirt and jeans in FC because I CAN. The people wearing clown suits are usually those TRYING to look wealthy but aren't!

I reckon those who CAN don't talk about it.

Except for the older guy that was on my flight three weeks ago who was bragging to the flight attendant about his Ferraris and his wife's Maseratis.

The truly TRULY wealthy:

1. Don't fly commericial.

2. Don't post on messageboards.

I agree with you point 1) but I'm not sure on point 2) :)

Your first point brings to mind an article I read in a British paper - maybe the Telegraph.

It was written by a reporter who visited a top club in Barbados several years ago. It was apparently a favourite haunt of the very wealthy.

At one of the tables a businessman was showboating and let everyone at his table know that "he'd flown into the island earlier that day on Concorde!"

According to the reporter, a stately middle aged lady seated next to the businessman turned and gazed at him briefly and somewhat disdainfully. "Oh did you?" she said "My husband and I used our private jet".

According to the reporter the businessman stayed mostly silent for the rest of the evening. :D

Now that explains my situation :)

Me yesterday in F in jeans and a tee shirt (but not looking like a slob.) Quite, read and listened to my Ipod, obeyed all crew instructions, and mind my own business. In back of me, man in dress shirt, tie, and dress slacks spends the entire boarding time screaming in his cellphone. FA advises turn off cell phones and this "nicely dressed" individual still screaming in his cell phone even as the a/c is being pushed back and the FA finally gives him and fourth and final stern warning. Said individual never shuts the h..l up during the flight rambling on about his business to anyone within ear shot. Who would you rather have in F class with you.

The initial thread: 'appropriate in f'
 

Looks like the thread--while chatting about clothes--has become about that old familiar theme 'hate the rich' and 'class hatred'.

Clothes and fashion:
Anyone can look good at any price today. So it's no longer about price or 'rich' (meaningless expression these days), or 'snobs' or 'looking rich'.

F and all other classes: How to travel:
Travel as you would go about your life--well-groomed, tidy, appropriate to the place, time, current styles, and season. Wear clothes that are appropriate to the setting. In a multi-star restaurant like the French Laundry, which is in the country, some men wear suits, or they turn up well-groomed and in nice fresh laundered (ha) shirts and slacks, polished shoes; and women wear a variety of outfits from luxurious jackets and major jewelry to country chic linen blouses and simple accessories, but all well-groomed, polished.
In F or anywhere: Wear clothes for travel,whatever your style and taste, that are pressed, clean--and especially clothes that fit and are flattering. The difference, many times, between a Parisian woman's chic outfit and, let's say, a London woman's outfit, is that French women get their tailor or seamstress to fit the coat or jacket perfectly. It may be from H&M, but the fit is perfect and flattering.
It's also in the demeanor: a slob looks antisocial. OK, go ahead and look like a sack of potatoes if looking 'out of it' and grubby gives you pleasure.
A well-dressed person (could be wearing a brilliant clean and pressed outfit from Goodwill!) presents themselves well, no matter the budget. They clean their shoes (could be from a charity shop) and are not 'in your face'.
In F: be considerate of others, espec FAs. Don't make a spectacle of yourself. Be polite and thoughtful, not intrusive on others. Look smart, not slobby.
Clothes: it's not about money!
What to wear in F or any other class: Make an effort. Be discreet.
And don't waste your time or emotions imagining that someone is rich or poor, based on your guess of how much their clothes cost (and the fact that they are in F).
Get over class hatred or loathing. Read a book, study, send a love letter instead.

You say that like it's a bad thing! Airplanes, IMO are not a place to be sociable. If my outfit when flying says "leave me alone so that I can sleep/read/watch the movie," well, good! That's exactly what I want out of a flight.

Why? Casual fabrics these days don't need it. They've even got 100% cotton now that doesn't need it as long as they come out of the dryer and get hung/folded promptly, forget about the old poly and cotton-poly blends that were the 1970s version of "permanent press."

I've got a couple of shirts that need ironing, and a couple of dry-clean-only suits. They come out for weddings, funerals, and the occasional particularly formal dinner. All told, they get worn around once a year. I might need them for interviews (or even daily at work) if I changed industries, but on my own time? Forget about it.

I'm thinking of wearing a short sleeved shirt, short pants, and a nice attitude to bear.. Do you think it's appropriate for International F?

I don't think that this is a thread about the now popular hate the rich and love the poor (and I am not passing or giving judgement on this). It is more about that an individual in 'dress" or expensive clothing does not in itself mean better manners or behavior that one would want to associate with a F pax. And what has been pointed out in this thread, one can be dressed casually (but not too casually such as a tank or tube top) and still look good and well presented.

And I have to say, I was in the LAX AA AC last night and there was a group of rockers in tank tops, typical rocker jeans, and long hair (they without a doubt stood out). But I will say that they were very quite, not drunk like shunks, and the one band member that was asking questions of a front desk person was doing so in a very polite manner.

AFAIC, if your feet and armpits are covered, you can wear whatever else you like. And everyone around you will appreciate the nice attitude. You should wear what makes you happy.

Sheesh, when did we all become so hung up on this?

Okay, question: Let's say I'm booked in coach but hoping to get a battlefield upgrade. Should I bring a suit and tie to change into if I get upgraded? Can I jump into a bathroom stall and come out instantly in my new clothes, just like Superman?

Mike

^^^

Very well covered, don't worry.. :D

It's either that or changing the pants into a longer one and carry a sports coat.. It's casual and not too overkill:)

Ever since someone posted this thread..

I'd say that wear something like me.. i.e short sleeved buttoned shirt, long pants, and sports coat.. As I said before, not overkill ;)

:D

Same here!

You're probably going to laugh but WWE does.

We need a little 'Cartman' icon.;)

I usually wear a collared shirt (usually my football club's travelling polo shirt), jeans and a pair of sneakers, and I'll wear that whatever class I'm travelling in, never had anyone complain (well apart from people that don't like my Football Club).

Footie fan
 

OK.... Football fans often identify with the team and want to draw attention to pride in the team.
The 'football club's traveling polo shirt' ? What colors?
There is something about the statement 'I'll wear that whatever class I'm traveling in' that reminds me of a young boy wanting to wear his Superman outfit everywhere.It's a bit like a 6-year-old saying "you are not the boss of me, I'll wear what I like' to parents.

Question: are you well-groomed and discreet or so you look like a dog's dinner or like you have had a three-dog night?

Betcha’ a golf shirt with an embroidered Amway logo would do the same thing.