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Airport People-Watching: Men vs. Women

Jenn

(website)

Veteran

I spent about half an hour sitting at the Denver arrivals terminal, people-watching while waiting for my husband’s flight, and I noticed an interesting trend.

In most social situations, I think women tend to outdress men, but coming off of flights, I noticed the men were almost universally less casual than the women. Seemed like around 70% of the women I saw were in leggings, styled in an athleisure way. The same percentage of men were in jeans or khakis with buttoned shirts. I saw very few men in athleisure, except for what looked like traveling sports teams in matching track suits.

Why do you think this is? Do you wear leggings to fly?

General

25 replies

Latest reply was from AndiB

LaPed

Veteran

I bet that women are more likely/willing to change once they arrive at their destination (plus shower/hair/makeup), whereas men want one outfit that will take them through the whole day so they can avoid the hassle of changing at all costs.

When I fly, I tend to wear my bulkiest outfit and pack the lighter, more compressible stuff. So I usually end up in jeans/boots/sweater unless it's a summer trip.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

No, but I don’t wear leggings period. Honestly, I think good jeans or pants are no less comfortable, and more flattering and versatile for me. My flying uniform is usually a pair of straight or skinny jeans, a solid knit top/tee (sleeve length depending on weather), a jacket of some sort, slip-on shoes or boots, and a patterned scarf. I think I’m usually smack dab in the middle of the dressy-casual spectrum of fliers, and I have always felt comfortable and appropriate this way.

It’s funny, my husband commented just yesterday that a woman about our age and her college-age daughter walked into Starbucks the other morning in straight-up pajamas. I really don’t like seeing people’s sleepwear out in public —frankly, it looks lazy, and it’s an old trend from college students in the early aughts and I wish it had stayed back there. But here we are..

I wonder about the difference between men and women in your observations. Certainly the ubiquitousness of leggings plays a big role, since there is not really a male equivalent.

But airport people watching is the best!

anchie

Veteran

All my flights are 2-3 hours max, so I never dress any different just for traveling.

Jane

Veteran

I like to wear jeans because they are generally the bulkier of my holiday wardrobe, so I have the same approach as you Jenn.

I don’t think I can imagine wearing leggings unless I would be purposely ‘draping’ with a beautiful EF dress in wonderful fabrics.

I’m with Janet, it feels abit sloppy.

Anchie, I’m wondering if you might need to consider your wardrobe for your flight to Seattle!

Anonymous

I am always dressed up for flights I take. My husband works for Air Canada, and I'm often flying on a pass, so representing him and this airline by looking at least semi-professional is required. Plus - potential for upgrades Blazer, slip ons, silk top and jeans. Good bag.

Barbara Diane

Veteran

Ponte knit pants, lightweight top, lightweight sweater or soft zip jacket. Might add in warmer items after a freezing cold flight this winter.

Carla

Veteran

Like Anchie, when I travelled for work it was max 3 hours and I wore regular business clothes. When I travel for fun, I dress similar to Janet - layers of tank top, sweater, topper, jeans or pants, comfy slip on style shoes, a scarf or pashmina. I do try to dress nice and 'groom up' any time I travel.

DH travelled all the time before he retired and always wore business attire. When travelling for fun, he likes to wear chinos, a no tie top, and an ancient tweed jacket - unless it is a sunshine destination.

Airport as runway is fun!

Sal

Veteran

For short haul (1-3 hours) I would wear my outfit for the day - jeans, dress etc. and I make sure I have something warm.

For longer flights I wear soft joggers usually - for the 16 hour leg we flew last week I wore a merino tank, a light bomber and a big scarf. Flat shoes and cosy socks to put on for sleeping. I would wear leggings for long haul with a long cardigan. I might wear jeans but I don’t find them the best for long haul.

kkards

Veteran

I find that when I travel during the week the men are better dressed..and I chalk that up to more men than women have jobs that require travel, so the women tend to be traveling for personal reasons. When I travel on weekends, like today, I find men & women dressed fairly equally. I should note I’m in the airport today and equal number of women in leggings as men in track/athletic pants. Also should note I’m flying from one college/tech/medical city to another so that could be part of it as well

Kathie

Veteran

Like kkards, when I travel during the week for work, I don’t notice a difference between how the men and women are dressed, and especially not in the first few groups that board. Of course, the men vastly outnumber the women in those groups, and I’m assuming that most are traveling for business. Most of my colleagues who travel enough to have status will always dress business casual or better, in case they get upgraded.

When I’m traveling for holiday times, I see a lot more casual dress- at least here in the US, I think of “men in ball cap and team/school t” as about the same level as “women in leggings” in terms of comfort and casualness.

Personally, as others have mentioned, for overnight trips, I’ll wear my bulkier items, usually jeans and running shoes. But, I don’t really wear leggings, so I’m probably not representative of the general flying population.

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

I’ve seen plenty of slobby men on planes.

You turned me onto “dress up” sweat pants for men, and now that’s all my son will wear. I don’t think they have had as much time to catch on and become embedded as leggings have for women. That might never happen, because men don’t have the “bridges” that women do. What’s the difference between leggings and tights under a dress? When it’s a tunic, not a dress, leggings are the more modest/conservative option. And now, (heavy) leggings as pants go with whatever top the wearer is comfortable in. I don’t see that happening with any item of men’s clothing. And if the men’s jeans you’re seeing are the slightest tick upscale, you just travel to/from classier destinations than I do!

Staysfit

Veteran

I just returned from the airport. I have to agree with much of your assessment. In Detroit, the younger women were mostly wearing leggings, although some were in jeans or non-denim trousers. I noticed a number of men had sport coats, but I suspect this was so they didn’t have to pack them. Many younger men wore elastic waist track pants and a few had drawstring style sweatpants. I saw only a handful wearing jeans.

I traveled in jeans, a long sleeve tee, a cardigan and my Ecco Soft 7 sneakers. The weather was rainy and variable between the Detroit area and home so I also wore my TNF convertible rain trench which has a warm zip out lining which is good down to about 35 degrees F. I wore all my heaviest items.

annagybe

(website)

Veteran

I wore leggings and a big cotton cardigan to & from Australia, but that was 15 hour red eye.
Walking through business class to cattle class I don’t really notice any exceptional dressers.
People talk about getting upgrades here. When I fly there’s almost always a waitlist of frequent fliers that get them first. I rarely hear about random ones, including from friends that fly often.
I have some friends that have elite status & they don’t always get the upgrades.
Qantas offered a bidding system for upgrades on our flight, we didn’t bid enough.

rachylou

Veteran

Hmm. That’s interesting. Have to say, the only men I see in straight up athleisure even on the street are Ghetto Fab. And tbh, I don’t known how much Ghetto Fabbers fly, unless they’re rappers. And then I’m in Cali, so we’d be talking mostly 30 min flights between Oakland and LA. But leggings seem to span all styles except business.

Greyscale

Veteran

I see plenty of young men in fancy sweatpants on planes - the type with sleek zippers and fabric that’s more like ponte. Their outfits are very trendy and intentional. I think that athleisure / streeetwear style caught on more in Asia, and the young men I see with that look are often Asian and Asian-American.

But overall I agree that I see more men dressed professionally on planes, and more women dressed in trendy athleisure. I chalk it up to the pronounced gender skew in who travels for work. Many women do, of course, but airports are one of the places where I feel most aware that the high-paid professional world is still dominated by men.

I find jeans more comfortable than elastic waists on my abdomen, so I always travel in jeans. My professional wardrobe is mostly jeans anyway, but for the rare times I dress up, I pack my dress slacks and blazer carefully and wear jeans.

Jenn

(website)

Veteran

I definitely agree with those of you who note that there seems to be a gender-imbalance in business travelers. And it could also be, as La Ped suggested, that even female business travelers are more likely/willing to change at their destination.

The area I was in was only domestic arrivals (in Denver, almost all domestic flights spill out into the terminal at the same location), so people were coming from all over. Because international arrivals have a separate location, I doubt anyone was coming off a flight longer than 4ish hours, though connections could make for longer travel days.

Also of note, I saw NO ONE any dressier than business casual. Granted, Denver is a quite casual city, but there was nary a suit in sight—-male or female. Those days are well and truly over.

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

I would assume it is a combination of business vs. personal travel and also the idea that women are more likely to change when they arrive. I wear jeans on flights (and these are 12 or so hour flights usually). As Janet said, I don't find them less comfortable than leggings. My daughters wear leggings though. Honestly I see it as a generational thing and pointless to engage. I prefer to lead by example .

Jessikams

(website)

Veteran

Seconding Greyscale on the fancy sweatpants/ Asia connection. I’m on the Beijing Subway as we speak, and I am surrounded by a sea of upscale athleisure/ sweats. All brand new and impeccable. I’ve tried it myself and it sure is comfy but I just feel like a slob going out in it- plus can’t figure out what kind of outerwear looks appropriate.

Anonymous

Definately no leggings for me. I dress is the heavier clothes I am taking and dress them up as much as I can. I have been bumped up to business or first class several times and give my outfits the credit for this. A very. Ice perk, especially when traveling overseas.

Staysfit

Veteran

I admit that my recent travel was during the Spring/Easter/Passover holiday break so even though we traveled during the week, people were probably more casual than they might be during a regular week. I have to add that the divisions of classes on our flight made me laugh. They managed to find about 6 or 7 categories for loading passengers onto a jet that was only three seats wide! Two seats, an aisle and then one seat. Having a single seat did not make for more space. There was truly no difference in the amount of space or amenities for anyone!

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I only wear leggings for yoga.

I'm at airports, in planes, and on long flights frequently. For short flights I wear what I always wear. Dressed up with very comfy shoes. With Sam in tow, I need a crossbody. For longer flights I wear jeans, warm top, topper and scarf.

At most US airports, people are in Athleisure - across all genders. A little different at airports in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Diana

Veteran

I wear leggings with loose or stretchy dresses to fly a lot. A lot of people see the dress and assume that I'm dressed up!

I think it depends very much on the type/location of the flight what the fashion breakdown looks like. I live in an area with a LOT of students and young people, so leggings, sweats, pajamas, athleisure, etc are all very common, and men and women alike are dressed casually. You see more well-dressed travelers on "commuter" flights, like Boston to NYC early in the morning and stuff like that, but that's because people are flying for work and probably going straight to a meeting/office.

Also, yeah, upgrades here mostly happen because you are a frequent flyer/have status/spent a lot of money, not because you look nice or sloppy. Being nice to the gate personnel also helps.

Anonymous

I've mostly traveled in summer, so skirts and dresses for me. If I'd have to fly in winter, I'd probably wear leggings though, but with a blouse and boots, not athleisure!
I really hate flying though, and avoid it whenever possible

bj1111

Veteran

i travel 14d a month for business. what i wear depends on so many things, principally where i'm leaving from (home or work) and what i have to do when i land. if i'm rolling directly into a meeting, i wear work clothes which can span jeans and a suit jacket or twinset to a dressy dress which is my version of business wear. if i go to the hotel first, what i wear is based on whether i left from the office or from home.

if i'm traveling for pleasure, i wear the same thing that i would if i left from home. i would wear more athleisure pants/leggings if i found a pair that i considered flattering. i much prefer jeans, but no one would look at me and say, hey that's ceo material there.

AndiB

Veteran

Stays fit! Are you in detroit?! Let’s have a meetup!

I will say I traveled in leggings, long sweater, long tee and tennies for first time ever after considering how comfy that must be. I usually fly detroit to California or Colorado, and economy where the seats are small. May or may not do it again and while not a polished look per se it has certainly entered mainstream, May even for a 50-something like me!.