One of the hardest things about fashion is looking awesome while dressed appropriately for all situations. Sure, dressing for school or work or a gala may be tough stuff, but we can’t exclude air travel from that list, especially with summer vacations coming up. I should know, seeing as I am currently on an airplane. I am following the sun back east as I write this after a trip to the west coast. My situation en route indicates that I was faced with the troubling task of properly attiring myself for this flight. Before I get into how to do it right, let’s first take a look at some of the mind-boggling appalling ways to do it wrong.
Oftentimes when one goes to the airport, one sees small children in weird bedazzled T-shirts and Abercrombie sweatpants toting their monkey-shaped backpacks around and moaning about how bored and miserable and hungry they are. One sees teenagers and young adults dressed and/or acting the same way. One sees people wearing cocktail dresses with tall heels they can barely walk in, daintily pulling a way-too-big-for-one-person-going-away-for-three-days suitcase. One sees a humongous crowd of tourists in fluorescent orange oversized shirts and baseball caps with their tour group logo on the front stumbling around the terminal looking frantic and confused, perhaps muttering in a different language. Does any of this sound familiar?
I’m not saying that everyone in airports is dressed poorly, because that’s not true. There are plenty of people who are capable of flying in style. It’s not an arduous feat to achieve if you set your mind to it. Most people choose not to because they want to be comfortable if they’re going to be cooped up, claustrophobic in a space for several hours, hauling a week’s worth of clothing and reading material around. That’s quite understandable. In fact, that is so understandable that that is at the core of my philosophy on fly dressing. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: comfort is the key to confidence. No one likes other people to think they’re slovenly, so why not avoid that predicament altogether?
Here’s the trick. You have to find those pieces in your wardrobe that are comfortable but are still totally rad. Let me use myself as an example. Seeing as it is summer, I wore loose denim shorts with a large sleeveless silk button up. I layered a denim vest over my blouse and a flannel shirt on top of that. I slipped on my wooden clogs because they’re easy to get on and off for security. I also had my straw hat at the ready. I like to think I looked pretty presentable, at the very least. But most importantly, I was able to sit on a plane for six hours in my outfit. I tried several times to put together a simple fool-proof formula, but it always ended up being something like: (comfy shirt + comfy bottoms) + (comfy shoes + light jacket), and that is just so beyond obvious that I figured you would all laugh at me.
It’s so easy to just wear your pajamas to the airport, I know; who’s gonna see you anyway? “Perhaps your future husband,” your mother may say. Hey, she might be right. In Derek Blasberg’s book Very Classy, one of the chapters is devoted entirely to travel. Referencing it later on his weekly Best Dressed List, he once said, “One of the points I really try to drive home is the importance of airport chic. Look your best when you travel because you never know who you’re going to run into.” My logic for why I like to look fly while I fly is because being on an aircraft is no different from going anywhere else, so if I refuse to leave the house under normal circumstances in sweatpants, why start now? You’re reading this article on Chictopia, so the chances are you’re the same way. We’re fashion-y people. We like clothes. They’re fun. An airport should not be given the authority to be a fun-sucker.
You know who else is good at lookin’ fine while traveling? Kelly Framel of The Glamourai, Kate Moss, and Florence Welch. I realize that they are all famous and have very expensive and nice clothing, but are you noticing a pattern here? The formula I made, as vague as it is, still rings true in most situations!
What are your thoughts on airport/flying fashion? Should they allow flamingos on flight? I’m dying to know what you think. Hit us up at @ everybodyisugly or in the comments section with your riveting responses.
By Odelia Kaly
Images via HarpersBazaar.com, TheGlamourai.com, People.com, and Google.com
