• Hi, I am the owner and main administrator of Styleforum. If you find the forum useful and fun, please help support it by buying through the posted links on the forum. Our main, very popular sales thread, where the latest and best sales are listed, are posted HERE

    Purchases made through some of our links earns a commission for the forum and allows us to do the work of maintaining and improving it. Finally, thanks for being a part of this community. We realize that there are many choices today on the internet, and we have all of you to thank for making Styleforum the foremost destination for discussions of menswear.
  • This site contains affiliate links for which Styleforum may be compensated.
  • Thanks John Elliott!

    Styleforum was one of the first digital communities to embrace John Elliott, and in recognition of that, John Elliott has extended to our comunuty a monthly discount to fans of the brand who engage here. Simply enter the code for SF-OCT-15

    Check out all of their new arrivals here

  • STYLE. COMMUNITY. GREAT CLOTHING.

    Bored of counting likes on social networks? At Styleforum, you’ll find rousing discussions that go beyond strings of emojis.

    Click Here to join Styleforum's thousands of style enthusiasts today!

    Styleforum is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

We Have Lost the War, Now Come the Reparations

stuffedsuperdud

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 17, 2019
Messages
790
Reaction score
2,048
To be fair, flying in the glamorous "jet-set" age wasn't necessarily all that great. My best friend's mom was a flight attendant during that era, one of those 20 year old cuties va va vooming up and down the aisle of of some primitive Pan-Am plane. Everyone dressed appropriately for the era, so you saw more suits and ties for guys, sure, and of course these were frequently people who could afford the ticket in the first place, or were business folks on expense accounts, so there was that, but besides that it was apparently kind of gross in its own way. The planes had more leg room but they were also much louder and slower and susceptible to turbulence and other safety concerns that we've since accounted for. That means it took forever to get wherever you were going, and you frequently had a cabin full of nervous inexperienced people getting airsick, a situation exacerbated by the fact that they often calmed their nerves with too much alcohol, and might be falling down or puking everywhere.

That said, at the end of the day, you're flying! Flying!!! You are traveling horizontally over the surface of the earth at 500MPH! This thing that man has wanted to do for 100,000 years, and we live in the eyeblink of human history where it is totally possible. Amazing!! And to be perfectly frank, nothing is a greater testament to humanity's total dominion of god's green earth than dropping a giant pressure imbalanced deuce at 30,000ft, amirite? This is something that I will never forget to appreciate no matter the indignities of modern commercial flying, and for that I do try to dress for the miracle of modern science and technology that it is.

The WaPo comments....well what are you going to do? Internet comments are going to be angry and polarizing because those are the people with nothing else going on. Also, most people have a kneejerk defensive reaction to nice clothes or do anything that smells like being told what to do, and this is both so...what are you gonna do? I couldn't help but notice that a lot of the back and forths start with longer more nuanced comments, and then the replies are just dumbshits throwing snippy drive-by one-liners at each other, which I guess is kind of emblematic of our breakdown in thoughtful public interactions, of which the clothes thing is a symptom.
 

TomTom

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2012
Messages
283
Reaction score
304
I only used to make an effort on plane when I was flying Business class for work . Then This kind of fits into the environment plus the fact they offer you a hanger for your jacket, can take a suit bag on, a lot more leg room etc..When I flew around Europe in Easy jet or other budget airlines. The experience is closer to be on crowded bus and nice clothes would only get creased, dirty or ruined. Chinos and a sweater for me all the way..
 

rjc149

Senior Member
Joined
May 8, 2016
Messages
907
Reaction score
689
When I was a kid flying with my aunt, she always insisted that I dress presentably on airplanes. I think this is a nostalgic vestige of the past.

As an adult, I wear sweatpants, sneakers, and t-shirts on planes. Dealing with airports is an ordeal. Sitting in a cramped seat for hours is uncomfortable and constricting, especially in the crotch area. When I arrive at my hotel/destination, I immediately change into something more presentable, but I'm no more inclined to dress up for flights than I am for lounging in my apartment in the evening or going to the gym. The only consideration you need to offer your fellow airline passengers is to be bathed and wear clean clothing.
 

FlyingMonkey

Distinguished Member
Joined
Sep 5, 2011
Messages
7,138
Reaction score
11,105
being “better”, doesn’t require an apology.

I have news for you: you aren't "better." That's the whole problem with this way of thinking. You are welcome to wear what you like –I don't actually have anything against wearing a sportcoat and tie–, but as soon as you try to justify it with some retrograde classism, then that is where you become a snob.
 

aj805

Senior Member
Joined
May 25, 2016
Messages
353
Reaction score
327
I wonder if maxalex posted this in our fine forum in hopes of finding some degree of solace in the wake of that enlightening media article.

What does he find? A community which celebrates the enjoyment of classic mens clothing by calling such "snobbery" and affectation. If this is what one finds in this forum, then there is no wonder as to the opinions of the wholly unappreciative.

Dressing on airplanes can be uncomfortable for a single reason. In steerage particularly, the minimal width of the seats does not permit adequate movement and space for ventilation between the body parts of even an average-sized male.

Also, flying is not bad because of trendy and misplaced mores regarding climate impacts. It is bad because from the moment you arrive at the airport you are subjected to a series of humiliating, dehumanizing protocols and policies which regard you more as cattle and criminals than customers. It is for this reason I refuse to fly commercial airlines.
 

Stylewords

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2020
Messages
647
Reaction score
1,016
I find the seats are tiny and the food and service is terrible on modern planes. I shudder to think what it must be like for those who have to travel in economy/tourist class.
 

LA Guy

Opposite Santa
Admin
Moderator
Supporting Member
Styleforum Events - Alfargos
Joined
Mar 8, 2002
Messages
58,679
Reaction score
38,148
I draw your attention to this recent Washington Post op-ed by David Coggins in which he makes the case for wearing tailored clothing on airplanes:


It's worth scrolling (trolling?) through the hundreds of comments, most of them oozing bile, to wit:

"You look like a complete moron sitting there in your sport coat."

"Pure snobbery."

"Reeks of elitism."

"What a bizarre and elitist little twit."

Many comments were variations of “nobody cares what you wear”—a common self-justifying trope that is objectively false, since strangers have only a few ways of judging you (and they do), one of them being your attire.[1]

One unwitting reader accused the author of being “overtly classicist,” although Coggins does not identify himself as a scholar of the Parthenon marbles.

I was not surprised by the pushback to wearing tailored clothing on an airplane (or anywhere else these days; I got eyes). What amazed me was the deep vein of anger this rather innocuous column opened. Apparently anyone who wears a sport coat and corduroy trousers is now a soul-crushing elitist conniver bent on world domination, despite that the true elites--corporate CEOs (oligarchs?) whose companies pay essentially no taxes--wear hoodies.

Well. We have entered the end times of...something?

[1] By the same token most people will claim they are “not influenced” by advertising, an assertion which if true would render the global $700 billion advertising industry a colossal waste of corporate resources.
The comments are dumb, but the tone of the article is mincing and judgemental, so it's not hard to see from where they come. If the author had presented himself differently, been less prescriptive, and maybe titled his story "Why I enjoy dressing up for flights" then he might have gotten a different reception.
 

maxalex

Distinguished Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2016
Messages
1,250
Reaction score
1,044
I wonder if maxalex posted this in our fine forum in hopes of finding some degree of solace in the wake of that enlightening media article.

What does he find? A community which celebrates the enjoyment of classic mens clothing by calling such "snobbery" and affectation. If this is what one finds in this forum, then there is no wonder as to the opinions of the wholly unappreciative.

Dressing on airplanes can be uncomfortable for a single reason. In steerage particularly, the minimal width of the seats does not permit adequate movement and space for ventilation between the body parts of even an average-sized male.

Also, flying is not bad because of trendy and misplaced mores regarding climate impacts. It is bad because from the moment you arrive at the airport you are subjected to a series of humiliating, dehumanizing protocols and policies which regard you more as cattle and criminals than customers. It is for this reason I refuse to fly commercial airlines.
To be honest I just thought it would be something SFers would enjoy reading. If I'm ever in the need of solace I'll go have an espresso (corrected with grappa) at my tailor's.

Apart from that, I've never found tailored clothing to be uncomfortable on a plane (not that I dress up for every flight). Jeans are the most uncomfortable (especially in the crotch area you cited), and chinos get wrinkled. Wool trousers work for me...
 

marker2037

Distinguished Member
Joined
Aug 15, 2017
Messages
1,881
Reaction score
5,046
I get that people want to be comfortable, just don't show up in your friggin pajamas please, I don't care what time of day your flight is (and yes, a lot of sweats double as pajamas so those too). That's my problem with people in airports, same goes for shopping malls.
 

bicycleradical

Distinguished Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2016
Messages
1,232
Reaction score
1,886
But if that doesn’t sway you, then remember this: An article a few years ago revealed that one airline told their gate agents that they could upgrade people who were dressed attractively.

This has happened to me a couple of times when I've worn a suit on a flight.
 

krudsma

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2018
Messages
395
Reaction score
1,052
I have news for you: you aren't "better." That's the whole problem with this way of thinking. You are welcome to wear what you like –I don't actually have anything against wearing a sportcoat and tie–, but as soon as you try to justify it with some retrograde classism, then that is where you become a snob.

Normal people on planes: "Look at that guy in a suit. He thinks he's so much better than us."
Guy in the suit: I am so much better than these people
 

Featured Sponsor

How Do You Feel About Pleated Trousers?

  • Love them, classic!

  • Occasionally, depending on the outfit

  • Prefer flat-front

  • Never wear them


Results are only viewable after voting.

Forum statistics

Threads
516,517
Messages
10,690,828
Members
227,440
Latest member
clovereddog
Top