TRAVELING IN STYLE....New Turkish Airlines, United Airlines Uniforms: Which Are The Worst?

Ottoman Empire Queens...and a King: the (unofficially) new Turkish Airlines flight attendant uniforms, designed by Turkish fashion designer Dilek Hanif’s

Two things have recently caused a big "stir" on the web in regards to "Flight Attendant Couture". One had to do with the new uniforms for Turkish Airlines and the other, the ones for United Airlines. Both were not so good. So naturally, since I LOVE ME some Flight Attendants (especially those 70's/80's fierce ones!), I had to discuss.

 Turkish Airlines Mumsy

First off: last month, a big Twitter and Web hub-a-loo occurred when photos of the supposed new designs for Turkish Airlines uniforms were "released" and well, most people were not very amused. Turkey’s proposed new and more modest dress code for its flight attendants has been criticized by the country’s seculars with some Twitter users deriding the new suggested uniforms as reminiscent of the costumes worn in the Ottoman Empire.

 The Current Flight Attendant Uniform, Turkish Airlines

Critics likened the suggested uniforms to those worn in the “Magnificent Century,” a popular Turkish soap opera about the decadent reign of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th century. Many found these new "uniforms" to be too conservative: “Even my students with head scarves find these ridiculous,” said Ayse Saktanber, a sociologist at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara.

The uproar has cast a spotlight on the Turkish designer Dilek Hanif (above), who was commissioned by the airline to redesign the uniforms. Hanif's designs are often inspired by Ottoman fashions, and she is said to be a favorite of Turkey’s head-scarf-wearing first lady, Hayrunnisa Gul. In an interview, Ms. Hanif said the uniform designs that appeared online were not final. She attributed the negative reaction to the callousness of the fashion industry, apparently as fierce in Istanbul as it is in New York, Paris and Milan. “Contrary to the photos that were leaked,” she said, “we are also working on a range of modern designs”...“I am still working on different designs, colors and alternatives,” she said. “When the designs are finished, they will be presented to Turkey and the world.” I'm not sure about these supposed new uniforms.

They do look a tad bit too conservative and "Mumsy". I LOVE the little "Fez" hats but the rest is a bit of a mess. And poor BOY: what is he wearing? It is like outfits a Costume Designer would come up with for a really campy Almodovar film about Turkish Airlines flight attendants. Seriously. I still kind of wish the Turkish Airlines uniforms looked like these:

Turkish Airlines Uniforms, 1970's

Now, let's discuss the drab, un-imaginative new United Airlines uniforms:

Welcome Aboard...Now Be Bored by Our Uniforms--the new United Airlines uniforms

First off: Oh Dear! This is making me want to order THREE Bloody Mary's really quick. These have to be some of the most DRAB uniforms I have ever witnessed...since my last American Airlines flight! GREY? Bland Blue? Too-long sleeves, too-long hem lengths? Are we at Church? OK, I'll stop...Let's talk about what is going on here:

Starting June 25, United Airlines employees will don uniforms that further underscore the reality that United is a new airline sprung from the merger of United Airlines and Continental Airlines. The new designs come in various shades of blue, gray and black, a range of colors familiar to passengers of both the merged carriers. According to a United spokesman, the airline did not seek out a name fashion designer to create the new look. Rather the carrier considered several suppliers, but finally went with the one that made what United employees considered the most comfortable, yet attractive options. The uniforms were made--and designed by a very formidable uniform company, Cintas. However, I remember when...

Back in 2009, Cynthia Rowley was named as the designer who was hired to create the new United Airlines uniforms. However, according to some news reports, Rowley abruptly left during the project's final stages in 2011 when new management heads, post-merger, demanded downgrades in the materials used. She refused to put her name onto said materials. I'm sure she still got payed a nice amount of money for it all--even though it never came to fruition. I heard some different rumblings through "the grapevine" about what really went down but that's for "Nick off-the-record Cocktail Hour" darlings...The end result (the newly-released United Airlines Uniforms), I think, are rather drab and un-creative; very "corporate" from my point of view. I get that, nowadays, the flight attendants don't look like FAB Braniff  Emilio Pucci-designed Stewardesses. But...why should they look like "Sister Wives" of a Mormon Compound? Just my "Nick Two Cents".

Click Below to Watch the new United Airlines Uniforms Fashion Show Presentation:

With all this above, my favorite Flight Attendant Uniforms remain being:

Emirates Airlines Flight Attendants

Korean Air Flight Attendants

So which is WORSE? The new (supposed) Turkish Airlines uniforms or the (ba-ba boring) United Airlines ones? Let me know!