The Fashion Statement: Flight Attendant Wanted New Uniforms, Too

JetBlue's Steven Slater, the flight attendant who grabbed a couple brews, deployed the airplane slide and said, "take this job and shove it," has become a modern-day folk hero. He certainly set the bar high for how to quit a job with flair.

But did you know Slater was also on the JetBlue's uniform redesign committee? Not only that but he was Chairman, according to businessinsider.com. No doubt he had had it up to here with the JetBlue look, too.

How quickly glory fades. Ten years ago, JetBlue uniforms were the height of chic. Stan Herman designed the window-pane checked midnight blue shirts, midnight blue trousers and skirts. Male flight attendants, like Slater, probably wore a tie with a pattern made to look like a plane's tail fins. Female counterparts could either wear blue check or polka dot scarves.

In 2001, JetBlue's uniforms were recognized for being utilitarian and "Prada-esque" and won design awards and accolades, even one from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. The fashion school hosted an exhibition "Work in Uniform: Dressed for Detail" that featured JetBlue's uniforms.

But that was then. No telling what Slater and the committee have been planning. Or who they were collaborating with.