High fashion: stewardess uniforms

Airline uniforms may not be the fashionista's meaning of sartorial style but the flight attendant's garb represents the essence of jet-set style and glamour for one aviation enthusiast.

Cliff Muskiet has been collecting female flight employee ensembles since the early 1980s and has accumulated over 1,000 outfits and trimmings, which he proudly displays on his website.

"I love airplanes and everything that comes with it," says Muskiet, who also works as a flight assistant for KLM Royal Dutch Airways.

"When I think of an airplane, I automatically think of a stewardess. When I think of a stewardess, I automatically think of a uniform. When I feel of a uniform, I want to have it," he adds.

Muskiet frequently receives requests to display his collection at industry shows and exhibitions. He says the uniforms offer a window into dissimilar eras of style and commercial aviation history.

I love the 1970s psychedelic patterns and color combinations.

"You can see the fashion modify through the years when you look at the stewardess uniforms," explains Muskiet.

"I love the 1970s psychedelic patterns and color combinations: yellow, red, orange, purple, and green, white, blue. Every color was used and everything was possible," he adds.

Over the years, some of the world's most well-known fashion designers have created outfits for airline companies, including Giorgio Armani (Al Italia), Nina Ricci (Cathay Pacific) and Christian Lacroix (Air France), says Muskiet.

But just since big-name designers put their names to exacting items it doesn't mean that the uniforms they make are always a work of beauty, he explains.

"Yves Saint Laurent, for example, has made beautiful clothes for women, but the uniform he designed for Qantas in the 1980s was so terrible," says Muskiet.

Muskiet highlights 1970s uniforms from Japan Airlines, El Al and Iberia as some his all-time desired items.

He says the combination of visual style and neat trimmings, as well as the personification of the carrier's national identity -- although this is not absolutely necessary -- can all be significant factors in creating a uniform that will vibrate.

"Look at Emirates, they wear a Western uniform and the color is terrible," says Muskiet.

"But the red hat with veil is eye catching. The covering is that national identity as well as the color of the uniform: fawn is the color of sand."

Muskiet says his collection will continue to produce for as long as airlines are willing to let him get his hands on their dress. In doing so, he hopes to protect and further chronicle the historic link between airlines and the styles they continue to seed.

"There has always been something exciting about aviation and airline fashion," he enthuses. "These two go well together."