Every so often, we see airlines remove people from aircraft for violating their vague dress codes. In this post, I’d like to talk about that in a bit more detail, because I saw some shirts at an airport today that sure caught me off guard…
Continue reading: Airline Dress Codes: What Constitutes “Offensive” Clothing? Does This Count?
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
The Biden shirt made me laugh tbh, but I do think it's trashy and cringe to wear shirts like this in public, and I look down on people who do
What happened to the good old days when everyone dressed proper on a plane? No cuss words, sexual innuendos or offensive politics. I don't care about MAGA hat or t-shirt or attire supporting your candidate of choice during an election.
I was on a flight out of Hawaii a couple years ago, terminal full of families, and a guy was wearing a "no more bullsh*t" (word spelled out) t-shirt. I have nothing against adult language in adult environments, but I do think people who wear vulgar clothing should be fined and/or not allowed to board.
Personally I don't care even if it's not my politics, but it's offensive because there are kids in public places who can read that, including the airport. It's not appropriate to subject them to profanity against the wishes of the parents.
To be fair in the "good old days" there was plenty of sexual innuendos. Like, flight attendants could only be female, young, and used to face sexual harassment from married business men all the time. And they used to be called stewardesses.
Well, since Spirit went bankrupt, those people have to go somewhere...
The most offensive articles of clothing I routinely have to deal with are accessories: cell phones without headphones.
The Biden shirt made me laugh too. That said, it could offend some people who liked him, could offend those who believe it's wrong to make fun of people with dementia, and could offend democrats. I am sure anyone who likes Trump would be offended with F Trump shirts. it would be great if things were not so divisive and we went back to arguing about which party has a better method to stimulate the economy.
Or perhaps caned, like in Singapore. I mean, wearing a shirt like that is the sartorial equivalent of spitting your gum onto the street.
And I can wear my Fuck Donald Trump (FDT) because it actually says Foxtrot Delta Tango. IYKYK.
And I can wear my Fu$& Donald Trump (FDT) because it actually says Foxtrot Delta Tango. IYKYK.
Buy First Class ticket, access the appropriate First Class lounge, then one should avoid the offensive proletariat dress code.
1990 said so!
It’s a bloody t-shirt worn by a putz, Lucky. Get over it, there’s a billion more important things in life to worry about.
But sandiegodereck, if maybe America was ever great again then the world might be a better place for us all. That is on the pre visor that the U.S. voters can find a world class statesman/woman to elect.
But Ronnie, Ben needs your click, that is an important thing in his life …. yes?
If your parents, grandparents or boss would be offended, I don't wear it. Common sense ain't that common.
Airlines should have a high bar for dress code enforcement unless they want to make it more specific.
- No profanity.
- No sexual content.
- Standardized body coverage expectations. Staff trained to exercise their discretion with fairness (what's too revealing for a curvy woman is too revealing for a thin woman, etc).
- Avoid policing political messages on clothing unless they contain profanity or sexual content.
As for how people should behave? Place and time.
- Pool hall or frat house? Wear that cougar shirt if you want.
- Airport? Activate the better angels of your nature. It is a virtue to walk harmoniously through communal life.
We also need to agree as a society that you age out of wearing shirts with "sly" sexual innuendo at 25. They're cringe AF in general, but you're deadass cooked if you're wearing one over that age.
If you are hot, you can dress thrashy.
If you are not hot without filters, and you know who you are because you employ the said filters, dress appropriately.
If you are guy, just cover yourself up. Who cares what you are wearing.
at least I appreciate the honesty of you commies/fascists national socialists laborers
The answer to the "a confused-looking Joe Biden, which read “WHO SH*T MY PANTS?”" question is easy.
trump did when he forgot to wear his diapers.
As for content on T-shirts, etc., if it isn't appropriate to wear to Granma's Thanksgiving Dinner, it isn't appropriate in ANY public place.
As for revealing clothing, I have not object to people going nude if they want. It is only flesh, and some have more than others. We wore born naked and should appreciate our bodies. I wear clothes because of hygiene and warmth.
Yes, me too, but with the answer to the question on it:
"trump did when he forgot to wear his diapers."
Please provide the website address where I can buy 5 of those Biden shirts. Funniest thing I've seen in a long time. And so very true.
What about the trend of "fun shirts" people wear that say things like "ask me about my explosive diarrhea". Not good?
Not as bad as ppl wearing football shirts and shorts on flights tbh!
But either way, isnt reporting ppl for a tshirt a bit sad? If they were dirty or something thats one thing, but it should be up to the airline to police things like tshirt logos.
I am not sexist, but if women dress in a sexually suggestive fashion then they should be prevented from boarding and told to change into more respectful clothing. Too many young women dress for planes like a shift at the local brothel.
I'm much less concerned with clothing/skin than I am with behaviour. And the worst behaviour on planes, 90% of the time, is alcohol-related. And the carriers serve the stuff!
Tinkering around the edges with shirt slogans and ballcap colours is missing the point. Boorish behaviour will continue as long as the culture celebrates alcohol and airlines/airport bars/lounges serve it to passengers.
If I had a choice between solving offensive shirt graphics, or solving offensive perfumes, I'd prioritize the latter first.
Ben, I agree with you 100%. But what I find interesting is that I’m more than forty years older than you. I’m wondering how many other folks your age would agree.
Agreed Ben, definitely unimpressive clothing choices and offensive to enough people (the adults in the room, so to speak) that they should not be worn in a general public settings. I'm guessing white men wearing them though, and conservative whites get a pass for behavior that no other demographic would ever be allowed in engage in...
Tangentially, I find it interesting only Delta mentions odor/hygiene in their rules, I wonder what prompted that inclusion (when the others didn't include it).
Think the article missed a point…women in bathing suit tops and backside area hanging out of way to short shorts. Am a flight attendant for the widget and am astounded by parents letting their teen daughters wear this attire…shame on you parents! Have asked many to cover up their bathing suit tops as well as shirts with the F word on it. %#%@#@%# using these symbols to hide the F word are allowed…never kicked off a woman during breast cancer months with”f cancer”. Interpretation…don’t agree with their choice but would not take action. Most of the ones I find offensive turn shirt inside out or put on another shirt. And the ones that are upset about it comply but love to proudly walk past the deplaning door with the F slogan back in place…think they won …no..their name willl be put in the system for future boarding scrutiny…it’s tough out here
It's not only what people wear but how they present themselves. Unshowered. Uncombed/unkept hair. Clothing that looks like they pulled it out of dirty clothes hamper. Old fat men wearing wife beaters and morbidly obese women wearing hoochie shorts and tube tops.
So much for laissez-faire… No worker or consumer protections, but George will excitedly regulate dress codes! Sassy!
There was a time certain words and such were referred to as "locker room talk", which is where said phrases belong. We will never go back to the days of suit coat and tie for air travel, and given the way the airlines treat customers I see no reason to do so, but aome level of decency is needed. This extend beyond air travel- should one be in a decent restaurant in a sweat suit ? If the way one dresses defines a culture we are in serious trouble.
Coat and tie for men , dress and blouse for women , and drinks all around . The long dresses don't bother me because I have a long memory .
TO this day, and I’m 77, I wear a sports jacket with whatever other clothing I decide to wear. The jacket gives me more pockets for those things that I need to reach quickly, I know I’m going to look decent, and I can always take it off should the need arise. I’m offended by people who wear garbage that looks like they are outside clipping weeds or washing the dog. Sadly, at least in the US, this seems to be the norm even whenever I go out to eat, and I’m not talking about some mass marketed chain either.
Allow me to state, be clean, wear appropriate underwear. If I see a man spread in cutoffs with your junk in full view, know that I might be offended.
Slow news day again, Ben? A long drawn out post about provocative versus unacceptable clothing. Is this worthy of such a detailed post? Or are you looking for click bait? You have written about this in the past. What's changed other than you saw some shirts that may be objectionable. It's not up to you bring it to the crew's attention.
As soon as I see a woman in gym-gear; particularly leggings; when she’s not going to or from the gym, I think, “slag”. When I see a man wearing sweatpants (or shorts) in public, I immediately think of the Karl Lagerfeld quote, “Sweatpants are a sign of defeat. You lost control of your life so you bought some sweatpants”.
imho "offensive" is a functionally useless category because (a) the airlines correctly conclude that there's no real way to define it; meaning that (b) no one knows what would cross the line
on a practical level, i personally prefer when garbage people are considerate enough to proactively label themselves as such, so that i don't waste time helping or interacting with them
Feel free to get offended. Cabin crews have more important things to do than walk around with translation apps linked to LLMs to ensure that stuff on t-shirts isn't offensive in any possible context (bonus: good luck with anything controversial related to Palestine, Taiwan etc).
I truly can’t conceive of anything sadder than mocking a politician who’s no longer in office or publicly visible. Like, is your sense of yourself so insubstantial that you care that much about some guy who’s already been kicked to the curb and out of public life? I mean if it were mid 2022 and people were wearing silly anti-Trump shirts after he’d lost a year and a half ago, it would be equally pathetic. Or wearing shirts making fun of whatever team lost the Super Bowl or World Series months after. It’s just a sad look. Kicking the long-ago defeated is some sorry shit.
As for the question: no nudity, no f-bombs, no s-bombs on shirts on planes, including with punctuation substitutions. (“Eff” or “F” is ok, because I say so. They’re sufficiently abstracted that they don’t cause the same visceral response.)
No, it’s not really important in the grand scheme of things, but those words are intended to offend, which is why they exist. I mean, I use them in every other sentence in when speaking our native dialect in NYC, but I’m not going to knowingly offend people trapped in a tube with me for hours, because why would I want to do that?
Not everyone’s feelings deserve extra special tender consideration, but the flip side of that is that I’m not the only person who matters.
I think people who want to taunt and provoke, or signal to others in their tribe in an intentionally vulgar way, should reel it in when in a space where people literally don’t have the option to go somewhere else.
I saw a couple of shirts that were sad but true. One was a shirt that says “The fat orange Nazi rapes preteens - but only when he’s done trafficking them,” and then another one showing the fat orange Nazi on his knees, providing oral sex to Pootie. That one was funny because it was true.
I’m not sure whether or not they belong on airplanes, but they should be plastered everywhere in general.
The t-shirts are truly stupid and tell a lot about the person. But offensive? C’mon. Dont you (in US) have more important things to do then be offended by stupidity of others?
I’m sure that Ben, will thank you for your carefully considered contribution Den …. 🙂
One more click to his count, yes?
How long will it be before offensive ‘T’-Shirt wearers in the U.S. will be forced to display a trigger warning placard?
What's offensive to one is not offensive to another. Someone has an issue with anything I wear they can bring their sorry Karen to my face and let me know. I doubt they are dressed well either.
Always amazing the majority in USA loves to do this to minorities as well. Fix your own sorry life before you give me any advice. I never asked for it nor would I.
I have never seen anything like this ever on a commercial aircraft. You seem to be confusing this with the NYC subway, maybe (where I *have* seen this!)
lol. half those words are now used on broadcast TV now. it's up to parents to mind their own children and not to manage the wardrobe of. strangers, no matter how distasteful their clothes choices seem to be.
In today's world, airlines, and especially every individual working on the frontlines are going to rather turn a blind eye to touchy subjects like this. Can you blame them?
As we can see in this comment section, people are even taking offense at someone else taking offense at something. Everything gets immediately politicized to the max and people claim their rights or feelings were violated in whatever way. So how can an airline enforce this if they have to expect some kind of public outcry including social media posts and videos going viral with every discussion.
Unfortunately we'll probably have to rely on people's own public decency...
Travelinwilli you are disgusting... But I do see those shirts out there and they should NOT be allowed on planes