Perhaps more than many other industries, the aviation world cares deeply about outfits and appearances.
While this more often refers to the frequent scandals over how flight attendants are expected to dress and subsequent tweaks to policy, occasionally scandals erupt over flyer outfits as well. One traveler took to social media to accuse Southwest Airlines (LUV) -) of pulling her aside and telling her to "put a sweater on."
Related: Another Major Airline Is Letting Male Flight Attendants Wear Makeup
"I wear the same outfit every time I travel by air," a traveler going under the name Mámacita Meeks wrote on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. "Why did @SouthwestAir try to pull me aside to tell me I needed to put a sweater on because what I was wearing was a sports bra?"
i wear the same outfit every time I travel by air & why did @SouthwestAir try to pull me aside to tell me I needed to put a sweater on because what I was wearing was a sports bra? like have you never seen a big titty woman before or? pic.twitter.com/YdUeHHTjMX
— mámacita Meeks (@_bonitamica) October 24, 2023
'Not the day I get put on the no-fly list,' traveler writes
Along with tagging the airline, Meeks also attached four photos of herself wearing black sports leggings and an Adidas (ADDDF) -) sports bra. Geolocation from her post shows that she wrote it from Hawaii.
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Meeks' post ignited some debate of whether a sports top of this style is the same as wearing undergarments with one writing that "a bra does not equal a shirt."
Others, however, said that it was not appropriate to pass judgments on travelers' outfits.
"Today was not about to be the day I get put on the no-fly list," Meeks wrote jokingly in a follow-up post. In a statement to TheStreet, Southwest said that "initial reports show that this Customer’s travel was not disrupted" and the airline does not "currently have any other reports of irregularities" but is communicating with the traveler for further information.
These are some other times travelers' outfits caused trouble (there are a lot)
There have, over the years, been numerous instances in which travelers ran into trouble due to their outfit choices. Back in September, Southwest was accused of "shaming" reality TV star Maggi Thorne from NBC's 'American Ninja Warrior' for wearing a tank top and leggings on a flight.
Southwest later replied to the post apologizing for an "encounter with our Flight Attendant [that] left you doubting our commitment to Customer Service."
In August 2023, Qatari travel influencer Lays Laraya ran into trouble over her decision to dress up as Barbie on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Australia's Perth. A flight attendant handed her a single red rose to complement the outfit but, when Laraya landed in Australia, she was flagged by customs for violating the country's biosecurity laws.
One of the most iconic airline shaming incidents occurred in 2017 when two young girls were barred from boarding a United Airlines (UAL) -) flight to Minneapolis from Denver International Airport over the fact that they were wearing leggings.
As the scandal started to spread on social media, a United spokesperson said that they had the right to refuse boarding over violation of its dress code policy. The girls were traveling on a "pass system" typically given to family and friends of airline employees and were subject to the stricter dress rules typically required of anyone "representing" the airline.
"To our regular customers, your leggings are welcome," United clarified at the time. In the ensuing five years, airlines have generally also moved toward slackening the dress requirements for all employees.
