Wild Blue Yonder Gives Way to Dreary Gray
空服員換制服：湛藍變暗灰
By Billy Witz

Consider the statement American Airlines was making recently when, as part of its postmerger rebranding, it unveiled prototype of uniforms for flight attendants and other employees.
想想美國航空公司最近發表空服員和其他員工的制服原型時的聲明，換制服是該公司合併後重塑品牌的工作之一。

The color is charcoal gray – and lots of it. Gray dresses. Gray skirts. Gray jackets. Gray pants. Gray sweaters. For an accent color, the airline chose a muted shade of silver – gray’s flamboyant cousin.
顏色是鐵灰色－而且是一路灰。灰洋裝、灰裙子、灰外套、灰長褲、灰毛衣。在強調色方面，它選擇低調的銀灰色－灰色的華麗表親。

These prototype uniforms, a not-so-daring departure from the standard navy, are a reflection of an industry that is being defined these days by less comfort, more fees and dwindling competition.
這些制服原型小心翼翼地脫離標準的海軍藍，反映這年頭航空業被定義為較不舒適、費用更多和競爭逐漸減小。

There is no need to stand out – and so American, and other airlines in the United States, do not.
沒有必要特別出色，美國航空和美國的其他航空公司也因此並不出色。

“The tailoring is certainly nice looking, but gray isn’t the most confident choice of color,” said Heather Cocks, a fashion writer. “It doesn’t give the airline much of an identity, or a personality. It washes the flight attendants right into the walls.”
時尚作家希特．考克斯說：「剪裁當然很好看，但灰色不是最有自信的顏色選擇，不能給這家航空公司很高的品牌認同，或是個性。灰色直接讓空服員融入了牆壁。」

It wasn’t always this way. A generation ago, attendants’ minidresses and knee-high boots were the personification of the go-go ’60s and the freewheeling ’70s, and for decades the uniforms were a tableau for designers like Emilio Pucci, Oleg Cassini and Halston.
並非一向如此。一個世代以前，空服員的迷你裙洋裝和及膝長靴是60年代「阿哥哥」風和70年代自由狂野風的化身，而過去幾十年間，空服員制服是艾米里歐．璞琪、歐雷格．卡西尼和霍爾斯頓等設計師表現的舞台。

These days, there is a utilitarian tone – dark, durable and somewhat dreary – to what attendants wear on most domestic flights. Unwittingly or not, analysts and fashion observers say, this speaks to how flying is for the most part no longer an experience, but something that must be endured to get from Point A to Point B.
這年頭，大部分國內航線空服員的制服有功利主義調性－暗色、耐久和有點沉悶。不論是否有意，分析家和時尚觀察家說，這說明了搭飛機大體而言已不再是一種體驗，而是為了從甲地到乙地必須忍耐的事。

“Maybe the strategy is neutral but sophisticated, but it’s coming off to some of us as boring,” said Karen Hofmann, the chairwoman of the product design department at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. She added that the airlines could learn from the automotive industry, which is slowly moving away from the ubiquitous beige and gray interiors.
加州帕薩迪納的藝術中心設計學院產品設計部門主席卡倫．霍夫曼說：「也許策略是中性但世故，結果對我們某些人來說卻是無趣。」她說，航空公司可以向汽車業學習，後者的內裝已慢慢脫離無所不在的深米色和灰色。

“There’s a huge opportunity to look at a uniform as something that can give passengers the perception of a premium experience, and right now it’s pretty bottom of the barrel,” she said. “Uniforms are expressions, but you wonder if they’re driven by price point and cost.”
她說：「大可把制服當做可以給乘客上乘經驗的東西，現在卻是等而下之。制服是種表現方式，但你懷疑是否受到價格控制和成本的影響。」

The history of air travel is littered with airlines that no longer exist, and styles, too. In the early 1960s, Braniff hired Pucci, the Italian designer who treated airplane aisles as fashion runways. Those that were not as bold as Eastern Airlines’ van Gogh-inspired blouses or Southwest’s orange-and-white Creamsicle look added flair with fedoras, sashes or scarves.
航空史上已不存在的航空公司比比皆是，風格亦然。1960年代初期，布蘭尼夫國際航空公司雇用璞琪，這位義大利設計師把機艙走道當做時裝伸展台。比不上東方航空以梵谷為靈感的襯衫，或西南航空橙白相間的Creamsicle夾心雪糕樣式那麼大膽的，就用帽子、肩帶或領巾增添風味。

“If you look back historically, flying was initially seen as a very glamorous thing to do,” said Valerie Steele, the museum director at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. “The jet set referred to the elite and very often the stewards and stewardesses looked very attractive and stylish.”
紐約流行設計學院的博物館館長薇樂莉．斯蒂爾說：「回顧歷史，搭飛機起初被視為很光鮮的事。搭噴射機到處旅行的富豪指的是菁英分子，通常男女空服員的外表非常迷人有型。」

Now, those qualities are relegated mostly to international flights, where foreign airlines are likely to incorporate native design stylings into what the crew wears. Air France’s scarves, a reference to French women’s style, and Singapore Airlines’ kebaya, a nod to traditional Indonesian dresses, are two examples, Ms. Steele said. “It gives you the sense that you are going on an international journey.”
斯蒂爾說，如今，這些品質大多轉移到國際航班，國際線航空公司可能把本土設計風格融入機組人員的穿著。法國航空的領巾參考法國女性的風格品味。新加坡航空的可芭雅服，就是認同印尼的傳統服裝，這是兩個例子。「這給你出國旅行的感覺。」

Mark Krolick, the managing director of marketing and product development for United, said the navy-black-and-gray uniform redesign after the merger with Continental was to create a consistent look, which would “convey professionalism and approachability about our people and our brand in general.”
聯合航空的行銷與產品發展總經理馬克．克洛利克說，與大陸航空合併後重新設計的海軍藍─黑─灰色制服是為創造與過去一脈相傳的外觀，將傳達「我們人員和品牌的專業和可親。」

An American Airlines spokesman declined to comment because the airline was still considering feedback from employees on the prototypes. But an internal company newsletter website extols the virtues of the color scheme. “The charcoal gray uniform color allows for easy mixing and matching while maintaining a cohesive, elegant look,” it reads. “Different accent colors – white for crew members, light gray for airport customer service and light blue for premium services – distinguish the workgroups.”
美國航空發言人未發表評論，因為公司仍在考慮制服原型的回響。但公司內部通訊網站盛讚此配色方案的優點。網站寫道：「鐵灰的制服顏色可輕易混搭，同時保有一脈相傳、優雅的外觀。不同的強調色－機組人員是白色，機場地勤人員是淺灰色，貴賓服務是淺藍色－以區分工作組別。」

Delta is in the initial stages of redesigning its uniforms for the first time since 2006, but it plans to retain one longtime signature element from its collection: a red dress. How the uniforms look is important, said Mike Henny, Delta’s director of customer experience. But they must also be functional.
達美航空仍處在自2006年以來第一次重新設計制服的初步階段，但計畫保留制服系列的一個長期招牌元素：紅色洋裝。達美的顧客體驗部門主任麥克．亨尼說，制服外觀很重要，但須兼具功能性。

“Flight attendants are traveling day in and day out,” Mr. Henny said, explaining why so many uniforms are navy, charcoal or black. “Dark colors are going to hold up better than light colors. We wouldn’t put them out there in a white suit.”
亨尼說：「空服員每天飛來飛去，這可以解釋為何很多制服是海軍藍、鐵灰或黑色。「深色比淺色耐穿。我們不會讓他們穿白色套裝。」

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/06/business/for-flight-attendants-high-fashion-goes-the-way-of-free-peanuts.html

2015-02-03聯合報/G9版/UNITED DAILY NEWS 田思怡譯 原文參見紐時週報十一版上