Your Virgin Atlantic flight crew might start to look more relaxed. Although previously all female cabin crew were required to wear makeup, that will no longer be the case. They will also now be offered pants automatically, in place of their tight red skirts, instead of upon request as before.
The new measures taken by Virgin indicate a possible change in the industry toward a less strict appearance code, especially for female employees. British Airways, for example, had a strict “no trouser” rule for women until 2016, though it still requires them to wear makeup. As reported by The Guardian, “According to [British Airways] uniform guidelines from 2015, all BA female crew are expected, as a minimum, to wear lipstick and blusher, to ‘groom and maintain’ their eyebrows, and conceal obvious blemishes…wherever possible.”
