Stewardesses

United Airlines uniform in 1968

BEA's classic uniforms from 1960

Japan Airlines uniforms by Mohei Ito from 1958

Alitalia crew uniforms in the 1990s by Giorgio Armani

Germany's budget airline LTU  uniforms - From L-R, 1968, 1969 and 1970

SAS uniforms designed by Mark McNairy in 1999

Braniff "Babes," as they were known, model Pucci uniforms in 1966

Olympic Airlines uniforms designed by Yannia Tseklenis in 1971

Southwestern Airlines boots and hot pants in 1973

BOAC stewardess in 'Suzy Wong' style dress - 1966

Janet Jackson of American Airlines tests public reaction to a miniskirted uniform in 1965

Back when I was married there were a number of my wife's friends from D.C. who couldn't make it to our wedding. A few, I had never met, so we'd get together for dinner, usually in Old Town Alexandria, where we had a favorite Chinese place on King Street.  One of my wife's friends was a stewardess for American Airlines.

Even though we were seated at a table, I couldn't help but notice how tall my wife's friend was, at least six feet.  Without any makeup she was utterly striking.  Light brown hair, high cheek bones... I don't think it's an exagerration to say she resembled Marisa Berenson in Barry Lyndon.  And like Berenson, she had an exceptional body. 

I was trying not to look at her, less I stare in front of my new bride, and found distraction by slathering plum sauce on a Moo Shoo pork pancake.  Head down and focused on my plate, she and my wife discussed her recent illness and inability, the stewardess thought, to shake a cold due to a confined L-1011  aircraft and the huge number of passengers who were sick with colds.

My wife asked if she had seen a doctor as I greedily brought the Moo Shoo filled pancake to my mouth, took a bite and chewed while focusing my attention on my Tsingtao label.  "I really don't like seeing my doctor," she said.  My wife asked why not.  She said every time she saw her doctor he would have her disrobe and run in place for about a minute, after which, he would take her pulse.

I stopped chewing, slowly looked up from my beer label and saw the stewardess shift uncomfortably in her chair.  My wife placed a hand on hers and asked, or confirmed, that the running was done naked.  The stewardess nodded and added it was part of the exam - according to her doctor.  I asked how old her doctor was.  She wasn't sure but thought he looked a lot like Ben Franklin.  I asked what the doctor did while she was running in place.  She said he did nothing -- He just sat in front of her and watched.

It seems everyone in NYC has a cold or the flu.  I'm not sure I can run in place for a minute.  These days, I get winded rolling over in bed.  Still, as old Ben would say, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."