Welcome to the wonderful world of Flight Attendant uniform collection at uniformfreak.com

My name is Cliff Muskiet, I am 58 years old and l live in Amsterdam in The Netherlands, Europe. I have been with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines for more than 37 years. I started flying in February 1987 and flew for 8 years. Then I stopped flying and worked as KLM ground staff at Schiphol Airport for more than 3 years. In 1998 I became cabin crew again. Now I am a senior purser and I only work long haul flights on wide body aircrafts: Boeing 777, Boeing 787 and Airbus A330. I like to travel, but I love being home too. Love everything about flying, except the time differences ;-) My favorite destination is New York. I was born in New York and I love this city. The flight to New York is not too long and I can deal with the -6 time difference. It works best for me.

What do I like most about my job?

I love civil aviation and that’s why I always wanted to become cabin crew. I wanted to work in airplanes because being in an airplanes makes me happy. I wanted to fly around the world. What I also like is the fact that as cabin crew you are responsible for the passengers comfort and safety on board. As cabin crew you can make a difference and turn a smile on passengers faces. By doing what you like most, you can make passengers like the airline you work for. That’s a great feeling!

I love the fact that every flight is different; different crew, different passengers, different destination and different working hours. No day is the same. As I wrote, I love everything about flying except the time differences……..

Even after 37 years, I still enjoy every take off and landing. I still get goosebumps when we take off. It’s my favorite part of the flight!

How did your passion for uniforms started?

Ever since my early childhood I have been very fascinated by civil aviation! Everything about civil aviation fascinates me. The fact that a Boeing 777 with 350 passengers on board can fly from one side of the world to the other. The fact that an airplane can fly, it still amazes me. Flying around the world has always had something adventurous about it. I like the different types of airplanes, the different airline liveries, the logo’s and designs, the cabin interiors, the meal trays with china and of course the uniforms! I love airplanes and everything that comes with it. When I think of an airplane, I automatically think of a stewardess. When I think of a stewardess, I automatically think of a uniform. When I think of a uniform, I want to have it!

The first flight I made and that I can remember was from New York to Amsterdam in 1970, I was 5 years old. I slept during the whole flight and when we arrived in Amsterdam, I was so disappointed because I couldn’t remember anything about the flight. I began to draw airplanes and I started to cut airplane pictures out of travel magazines. As a young child I knew I wanted to fly, I wanted to work in an airplane. I used to collect everything about airplanes. Every month I would go to Amsterdam and visit the airline offices and I would come home with bags filled with postcards, posters and folders about the airlines and airplanes. I also cleaned airplanes in the summer time at Schiphol Amsterdam Airport when I was 15, 16, 17 and 18 years old. I loved it because I could be in airplanes the whole day and meet the different crews.

My unique collection began in 1980, when I was given a KLM uniform. It was an old KLM uniform from 1971. My mother was a nurse and she had a colleague nurse who also was a part-time stewardess. At that time I thought: “this is great, I want to have more uniforms!” In 1982 I got two other uniforms from two Dutch charter airlines that changed uniform in that year. From 1982 till 1993 I didn’t do much to obtain more uniforms, something I really regret now because I could have had many more. Ten years later, in 1993, I was in Accra in Ghana, working for KLM, where I obtained some old Ghana Airways uniforms without any problem. When I received these uniforms, I started to contact other airlines. Most of my uniforms were obtained between 1993 and today and my collection now contains 1835 different uniforms….and there is more to come!

Why this website?

Because I really like to share my passion and all my uniforms with the rest of the world. Why would I want to keep everything for myself? Internet is a great thing! My website opens doors to other people and/or airlines that can maybe help me with obtaining new uniforms for my collection.

I started my website a long time ago, back in the late 1990s. I think it was 1999. It started as a very simple website with only a few uniforms. I used to scan photo I made and updated these on my website. The quality of these photos wasn’t really good, but I didn’t know any better myself. Through the years this has changed and my website has become more professional and the photos I make have become better too because I use a good camera and Photoshop to prepare the photos and adjust colors. I still have to replace a lot of photos on my website, but every now and then I take the time to do so.

Making photos for my website usually takes a long time. I need to find the uniforms, press the uniforms, get my mannequin dressed up and styled the right way, make photos on a day when there is enough daylight, download the photos onto my computer and use Photoshop to make the perfect image. Adjusting colors is the most difficult thing and this takes a long time.

How do I get uniforms?

Well, that is my little secret and I don’t share that information with others ;-)
The uniforms are not easy to get. Because of security reasons it is very hard to get uniforms, but ……. I manage to get uniforms because most people/airlines are very impressed with my collection and some airline like to be represented on my website. Some airlines donate their uniforms, but I also get donations from former flight attendants who still have uniforms or parts of uniforms.That is one of the good things of having a website…people know where to find you!
Because I am cabin crew myself, I travel the world and I am able to go “uniform hunting” when I am abroad. My job and my hobby are a very good combination. I get to visit places where I usually would not go to, like Uganda, Ethiopia, Iran, South Korea and Ecuador. It has taken me years to achieve what I have now and I am very proud of my collection. Every day I am looking for new uniforms and/or uniform pieces to complete a uniform. My hobby keeps me busy every day!

Which uniforms are more specials and why?

I love uniforms from the late 60s and the 70s! Love the hot pants, short skirts, big pointy collars and “soul” pants. Love the bright colors they used and the psychedelic prints. Everything was possible and all colors were used: from orange to yellow and from bright red to purple and green. Flower prints, stripes, dots, you name it, it was used!

Mix and match concept was a big thing in the USA and Canada in the 1970s. Stewardesses could choose what to wear. There were many different items to choose from so lots of different looks and also lots of different accessories. Stewardesses could have their own style and still look “uniform”. I love uniforms with a hat and in the 1970s most uniforms had a hat. I think the hat is like the icing on the cake and the hat makes a uniform complete and stand out!

My sentimental favorite uniform is a KLM uniform used 1975-1982. When I was a child I flew KLM a lot and stewardesses wore that particular uniform. I was also fascinated by the hat. It was like an asymmetrical mushroom. The uniform reminds me of my travels with KLM and how badly I wanted to become cabin crew myself. KLM is my employer now so this uniform means something to me.

Other uniforms that are quite unique are the Braniff International uniforms designed by Emilio Pucci.
The 1965 uniform has a plastic Space Helmet that is part of the uniform. It was worn for a short period. The stewardesses would wear the Space Helmet to keep the uniform hat and their hair dry when it rained. The Space Helmet was not very practical and that is why it only lasted for a year. I can’t believe stewardesses would wear such a uniform nowadays, imagine this back in 1965! It sure was something really unique.

There are some more special uniforms in my collection, like: Tyrolean Airways, Iran Air, the TWA paper uniforms from the 1960s, but also Panam and airlines like Singapore Airlines, Garuda, Thai Airways and Malaysia Airlines that have used their cultural identity through the uniform design. Another example is the well known Emirates uniform with red hat and veil.

Which one would you like to add ?

Everything that I don’t have yet is more than welcome! Uniforms from any decade or current uniforms.
There are many uniforms I would like to add! Most of them are vintage uniforms from the 1970s. I guess they are hard to find.

I would love to add so many! Some are:

*Japan Airlines early 1970s uniform
*Alitalia 1970s uniform
*Thai Airways 1970s uniform
*Air France 1970s summer uniforms
*Qantas 1970s uniform
*Transavia 1970s
*Finnair 1970s
*Sterling 1970s

There are some uniforms in my collection that are not complete yet. The number 1 thing I am looking for is the ALIA Royal Jordanian stewardess hat that was used in the 1980s. I have the uniform, but the hat is missing. Have been trying to find one, but it is very difficult.

One day a gentlemen from the UK contacted me through my website. His wife had passed away a few months earlier and he was finally sorting out her belongings and getting rid of things. His wife used to be a stewardess with Alia and she had kept her uniform, only the hat was missing. This gentlemen donated his wife’s uniform. I treasure this uniform in my collection now and would like to make it complete.

I am also looking for:

British Mediterranean hat
British World Airlines hat
Spanair hat 1990
Portugalia hat and scarf 2004 – 2006
Olympic Air hat current
Aegean Airlines hat 2015 – 2023
JAL Japan Airlines red/white striped body used 1977-1987
JAL Japan Airlines blue/white striped body used 1977-1987

Which uniforms are missing?

Hahaha…..so many, too many! It is impossible to have all uniforms. Collecting uniforms is like collecting stamps. Uniforms come and go and airlines change uniforms every now and then. You can go back in time to the 1950s and 1940s. A lot of airlines from past decades don’t operate anymore because they merged with another airline or they just went out of business.

Any anecdotes to tell regarding the search of the uniforms?

Some time ago I flew to Singapore for work and had a layover there. On my day off I flew to Hongkong to pick up a Cathay Pacific uniform at the head office of this airline. The flight from Singapore to Hongkong was 3 hours. When I got off the plane, I went to the Cathay Pacific office to pick up the uniform and immediately flew back to Singapore….another 3 hours. I was in Hongkong only for 2 hours just to pick up the uniforms. Some people say I am crazy because I traveled all the way to Hongkong, but I enjoyed the trip and it was worth going there because I received two new uniforms for my collection.

Some years ago I flew from Amsterdam to Jakarta (Indonesia) to pick up a uniform. The airlines that was going to donate a uniform was not able to send the uniform by mail so I decided to go there myself when I had some days off. The flight is more than 13 hours and I only stayed in Jakarta for 24 hours and flew back home with not one uniform, but four uniforms! It was a successful trip. Some people call me crazy….but if necessary I will do anything for a uniform.

Where do you stock all the uniforms?

All my uniforms are stowed in 3 big closets and 225 plastic containers. I have all my uniforms at home. When you come to my home you will not see any of my uniforms. All uniforms are put away in two special rooms. Some people can’t believe I have all these uniforms at home, but somehow you become creative with creating space and stowing my uniforms. I want to keep the uniforms with me because if I need them I can get them right away. Having them stowed away somewhere else would not feel good!

Any plans on opening a museum?

Hmm, I don’t think so. I actually have my website and that is a kind of museum, an online museum. I must admit that it would be nice to show the uniforms because they will come alive when people can really see them. Back in 2017/2018 I had an exhibition in the Kunsthal in Rotterdam. 150 Uniforms were shown and it was fantastic to see them all together in one big space. A lot of visitors came to see the exhibition, also a lot of KLM colleagues.

I would love to make a nice coffee table book with beautiful high fashion photos of some of my nicest uniforms. It’s hard to find a publisher because it is all about money. Maybe when I am retired and have more time, I will look into this again.

Please visit my website at www.uniformfreak.com
More than 1830 different stewardess uniforms!