You Should Be Wearing Jeans on the Plane
My three strict rules of efficient airport dressing! + some misc fun
I’ve spent a combined 110 hours and 20 minutes on planes in the past year, and I was wearing jeans the whole time. I have another 41 hours of plane-time on the horizon during this holiday season, and you guessed it — I’ll be wearing jeans.
I didn’t realize how many people were so vehemently against plane jeans until I posted this note and got some horrified replies lol.
If this scares you: welcome, this is a safe space to be scared. Now, if you’ll just allow me to make my case…
These are my Frequent Flyer Strict Packer Carry-On Only Airport Dressing Rules.
So buckle in — there might be turbulence ahead.
#1: Jeans are perfect plane pants.
On a scale from bra to ballgown, the room that a pair of jeans takes up falls too close to ballgown for my own comfort. The packing space is simply too precious.
I’m a carry-on only person if I can help it — and I usually can, thanks to strict packing. Earlier this season I did a month away from home on two continents with opposite seasonal patterns in only a carry-on. So the space I save by wearing jeans on the plane instead of packing them is a very precious 96 cubic inches.
I view my travel outfit as a way to maximize efficiency by wearing bulky items and layering to the max. My perfect plane fit: jeans, cotton t-shirt, soft warm cardigan, and the bulkiest jacket I want to bring. Wearing leggings while traveling is a complete waste of a packing opportunity.
If they’re not comfortable, they’re just not the right jeans.
I get it, some jeans are pretty uncomfortable — the idea of denim seams burrowing into your crotch while the seatbelt light is on for six hours is a nightmare. But to that concern I say: wear comfortable jeans. If your jeans are 100% cotton, as excellent denim usually is, that’s the same fiber makeup as your favorite sweatpants. They can be just as comfortable, I swear!
I tend to reach for these when embarking on 24+ hour travel days:
When in doubt, just go loose. I tend to pack looser jeans while traveling anyway so that by day five of a pastry-heavy vacation diet I can still sit comfortably in my pants. Vintage low-rise is perfect for this.
#2: Be a hero, wear slip-on shoes.
I struggle to think of someone more openly hated in a public space than the person who takes an hour to get through the TSA line. For that reason, a complex lacing situation is just not appropriate for airport security.
Slip-on only is my personal policy. I generally wear loafers if I’m heading to a moderate climate and Blundstones if I’m going somewhere cold. Also in my repertoire: Merrell Jungle Mocs, slip-on Vans, or ballet flats (with socks).
Occasionally, however, your bulkiest shoe (aka the shoe you must wear to save packing space) isn’t slip-on friendly. In those cases, we pre-untie our laces as we move to the front of the TSA line, and once through, put them back on at a bench near bin collection. No clogging up the lines by lacing up a pair of boots at the conveyer belt. Have some decorum.
#3: That personal item better be a Toteducken.
The storage-maxxing extends to my bags too, of course. My plane personal item generally rotates between a North Face backpack (which I honestly hate so I won’t link it) and a Longchamp large Le Pliage (which I absolutely love and reach for 95% of the time).
Inside the big bag goes a purse and a standard sized Baggu tote. The purse keeps my smaller things organized: passport, wallet, mini Aquaphor, pen, hand sanitizer, eye mask, earplugs, melatonin, AirPods, gum, and portable charger. I find it easier to access these things when they’re all stowed in one place, otherwise I’m rummaging through a sea of miscellaneous items trying to find my passport and panicking that I left it in the cab.
Outside the purse, in the larger cavern of the tote, live snacks, a laptop/iPad, the scrunched Baggu, a notebook, a book or Kindle, sometimes the toiletry bag if I couldn’t fit it in the carry-on, and charging cords.
The Baggu can be a third organizing pocket, but it’s mostly there for emergencies. Recently while flying I had an agent tell me they had to surprise check my carry-on, and as someone who’s always paranoid my luggage will be lost, I was so thankful to have the extra tote with me. I removed a couple precious items from my carry-on, stuck them in the Baggu to bring with me on the plane, and felt much more at peace about the random bag check.
For me, dressing for the airport comes down to this: I like to be efficient and I like to feel normal.
I enjoy treating travel days just like any other. Airports and planes are such strange liminal spaces, and I always feel a bit crazy by hour 12 of a long haul travel day. Wearing a normal outfit makes me feel more normal.
Plus, I often can’t check into my accommodation as soon as I arrive at my destination — the cheapest flights land at the most inconvenient times! I prefer to already be in jeans than have to dig through my suitcase in an airport bathroom and quickly change while praying that the floor isn’t too wet.
For more on my vacation dressing philosophies and carry-on only strategies:
I stopped a woman on the street a few weeks ago to ask about this necklace. The chunky glass beads remind me of big jellybeans; I feel like if I bit into one its surface would crack and reveal a gelatinous center. I asked her what brand was behind it and she said, “I made it!” I asked her if she has her own brand and she said, “Nope! Just made it for me.” Immediately I felt silly for even asking — of course this was just a passion project. You can see it in the soft reflection.
I was published in the latest issue of Pinky a few weeks ago! It’s a shortened version of an essay that appeared first here, “I Feel Glossier in This DMV.” You can pick up a copy in McNally Jackson in NYC or online here.
After rigorous testing, I’ve determined that the most bang-for-your-buck warmth-for-your-space packable layer is a skinny mohair scarf. Sometimes for the outfit’s sake, you need a layer that can be easily removed as soon as you enter the room (or even on the subway ride over). Something that is small enough to fit in an evening purse, but packs a big enough punch that it can be your only cold weather accessory of the night. This mohair scarf knitted by my lovely friend Jess has been just the thing for me lately. Wrapped around my neck with the tails covering my chest, it keeps me so warm that even in 37 degree wind I can get away with only a thin cotton tee under my jacket.
Wishing you all safe holiday travels <3 I would love to hear your personal airport dressing rules, whether they involve denim or not…
Get in touch with me at mackinley@yeehawt.com if you’d like to work together, or find me doing other things on IG. Now go pick out your plane jeans!
1000% yes!!! I have been doing it for years to no ill effect other than more packing space lol. For the haters - maybe consider the jeans as just a full leg compression sock??