One key element of the ‘Golden Age of air travel’ was fashion.
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Along with things like cocktail hour and a respectable seat pitch, air travel in the 1960s and 70s involved fancy outfits and great footwear. In fact, some cabin crews were dressed head to toe in haute couture-style uniforms.
To say we’ve fallen since that era is an understatement.
But I take a bit of umbrage with the notion that passengers today are lazy creatures who can’t be bothered with fashion, or even looking decent.
Dressing up at the airport has fallen out of favor because flights have become a lot rougher since that golden age. Seat pitch and seat width have shrunken to uncomfortable sizes, while many flights are also subject to delay… which can even happen on the tarmac, for hours on end.
Passengers can even be bumped to the next flight or have their route rescheduled without compensation—and there’s definitely no cocktail hour in economy. Even the economy has shrunken, now divided into different tiers.
Our casual dress is reflective of the casual, budget nature of air travel. It’s not an affair to remember anymore—it’s an experience to survive. And survival is easier in athletic wear than in tailored suits.
So, when should you actually be dressing up at the airport? Is there a time when it could get you preferential treatment—or has that ship sailed?
Dressing up at the airport—here’s what you need to know
Dressing (probably) well won’t get you an upgrade
In the past, dressing the part was considered a first step in earning an upgrade. The idea was simple.
Passengers who were loyal members of an airline (or maybe not even) could almost guarantee an upgrade of some sort just by dressing up at the airport, showing up with a smile at the gate, and acting smooth with the gate agents.
Unfortunately, this is no longer the case. Not only are many flights overbooked, meaning gate agents can’t actually help you get an upgrade, but I also think athleisure has changed the nature of ‘dressing up’, in general. In other words, dressing down at the airport is so common that it’s no longer considered impressive to dress up.
(That being said, I’m not advocating that you look like a slob at the airport—I’m just reminding you that looking nice in a casual outfit is considered par for the course in 2025.)
Shoes & accessories are the easiest way to zhuzh up an outfit
I’d hate to get in the way of your dream of dressing up at the airport. So, let’s move into territory that will let you look nice and stay comfortable while crammed into an economy seat for several hours.
A pair of nice shoes and a few upscale accessories can turn your outfit from hyper-casual to bohemian-chic. For women, that might be a fancier pair of flats and a flashy pair of earrings. For men, that might be nicer sneakers and a solid watch.
The idea is that you can take these off during the flight to keep things more casual, then put them back on when it’s time to deplane again.
Blazers work, too
If you’re flying for business purposes and need to look fresh straight from the airport, I recommend bringing a blazer with you. Even if the rest of your outfit is relatively casual, a blazer will church up any look. Just don’t pair them with sweatpants or leggings.
Is it difficult to keep a blazer in prime condition during air travel? Yes. But it’s much easier to keep a blazer fresh compared to a full suit.
A matching set is always a good idea
Here’s my trick to dressing up at the airport that doesn’t actually involve dressing up: I have two matching sets that I wear during long-haul flights.
One is fuzzy and ultra-lush for longer flights and multi-leg journeys. The other is more lightweight and better geared toward short, domestic flights.
The matching sets let me look nice and put together without requiring me to sit through a flight in jeans. If I need to look extra-nice, I’ll wear a nice pair of flats and some jewelry.
Remember: matching sets aren’t only for women. If you’re a man who wants to look fresh and also stay comfortable, go for a matching set from your favorite athleisure brand, whether Champion or American Eagle.
You can always pack extras
If you like dressing up at the airport and look forward to strutting your stuff in Terminal XYZ, then don’t forget that you can always pack on-plane clothes in a carry-on. I’ve seen this become more commonplace over the last few years, thanks to factors like the rise of influencer culture and business trips.
Both categories of traveler need to look good at the drop of a dime—sometimes for aesthetics, and sometimes because they’ll be deplaning and heading straight to an important meeting.
In other words, a clean blazer and some tasteful jewelry won’t always get the job done if you need to look nice.
In these cases, bring your casual attire onto the plane, then change clothes once you’ve boarded. Just know that you’ll be sacrificing a lot of space in your carry-on to do so.
You could get into trouble for poor dress
Dressing up at the airport probably won’t get you an upgrade… but dressing down could prevent you from boarding.
That’s right—airlines in 2025 still have dress codes.
However, they revolve around lewd or inappropriate clothing that could offend other passengers. The general idea is that an airline could ask you to change or bump you from a flight if your dress offends other passengers… which makes the actual rules hard to pin down. Bare feet are also prohibited.
