26-03-2025
Ready for the runway: Whatever happened to the chic airport outfit?
When you see the characters of The White Lotus arrive at their resort each season, they're prim, pressed, and distinctly devoid of any ugly neck rests or jogging bottoms.
'I draw a lot of inspiration from the 60s and 70s, because it's a time when people would still have their travel outfit,' explains costume designer Alex Bovaird. 'They dress up for the plane, which I don't think people really do anymore.'
A 'plane outfit' used to be more akin to someone's Sunday best, with no thought spared for ease or comfort. While our favourite celebrity airport outfits from recent years likely involve someone leaving the airport in sweats, sunglasses or some sort of denim, the celebrities of yore had no such luxury. Cameras met them on the tarmac, where they'd be photoshoot ready at a moment's notice.
Just look at Marilyn Monroe in 1959, stepping onto a plane at LaGuardia airport, New York, to fly to Chicago (two hours minimum these days, likely much longer back then), wearing a full fur coat, a whole face of makeup, coiffed hair and white high heels.
Or Jane Fonda, leaving Heathrow airport in 1965 wearing a houndstooth skirt-suit, complete with suede boots, hoops, and a polka dot kerchief perfectly knotted around her bouffant hair.
Now, it's different. Times have changed. Athleisure took over the world, leggings became commonplace, and it became socially acceptable to wear trainers basically everywhere. But that doesn't mean your 2025 plane outfit has to be any less chic.
'It's all about being understated,' says frequent flyer and chic travel enthusiast Isabelle McMahon. 'If you dress plain and keep simple layers which can be added or removed depending on the various temperatures you encounter during your journey, you can almost have a capsule wardrobe for the flight. An oversized shirt, cardigan, plain t-shirt.'
Isabelle believes wearing leggings in public is 'uncouth' and instead opts for jeans or comfortable trousers. 'Never shorts,' she says.
Travel editor Hayley Spencer agrees, but says some tracksuit bottoms can be chic. 'Avoid gathered cuffs as they look less put together,' she advises. 'So a straight or wide leg tracksuit bottom or set, like Life of Ease are great or some Adidas Originals. A cropped zip-up is chic because it gives you a good silhouette with the matching trackies. And a trench over a smart tracksuit is a big look. On top, a With Nothing Underneath linen or tencel shirt — which creases less — can be super versatile.'
As for travel pillows, techy shoes and big duffel bags, McMahon advises to give them a miss where possible. 'It's not chic to not look like you have done something specific for travelling,' she says, 'someone chic and worldly travels often, and it's no big deal. It's just another day.'
And if travelling for work, she advises: 'Unfortunately, you need to dress as if it's work even if you're on the flight, you never know who from work could also be on the same travel schedule. Even at 6am at Luton airport, you could end up sitting next to someone super senior,' she says.
She's also opposed to the tell-tale scent of a person who's gone on a perfume parade around duty free, saying: 'It's not chic to be like over perfumed on a flight, you should just focus on being hydrated, using hand lotion and body lotion.'
Beauty editor Madeleine Spencer agrees, and insists that luxury should be exuded through beauty products while travelling, as much as clothes. 'On a flight, I always bring Mortar and Milk Lip Complex, La Prairie Caviar face mist, Clinisoothe to disinfect things, and individual under eye masks. It's handy to have it all in an across-shoulder Prada bag, but of course not mandatory.'
Because everyone knows the real sign of quiet luxury while travelling, and the tell-tale sign of every good celebrity plane outfit, is always in the accessories. Posh Spice and her Birkins, Rihanna's trainer collection, Britney's sunglasses, Kate Moss's leopard print bag and Winona's denim jackets. If you're going to invest in anything for your airport outfit, a bag and sunglasses are certainly two of the most important items on the list.
With Nothing Underneath tencel shirt, £120,
Bottega Veneta sunglasses, £333,
Uniqlo wide sweat joggers (shorter), £24.90,
Rains MSN bag, £79,
Falke compression socks, £30,
COS boxy collared leather jacket, £400,
111SKIN celestial black diamond eye mask, £14,
Bershka wide leg boyfriend jeans, £29.99,
Mango chunky knit jumper, £49.99,
Arket rib tank top, £17,
