Cabin couture

Senior features writer

Saturday 16 February 2013

Personally, I think February is too late to be grabbing some winter sun.

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Barry Didcock

If you've made it past Valentine's Day, the worst of the season is behind you. By the same token, it's too early to start planning Easter or summer breaks. My preferred method for these holidays is to wait until a week before the school term ends and then book a cottage in a part of the country that doesn't require me to set foot on rolling stock operated by Virgin Trains.

Still, others are already thinking about their holidays, which means they're also thinking about their holiday wardrobes. Last week, irony of ironies, this would have involved standing in a snow storm and looking at the spring and summer collections through a shop window.According to a survey of British holidaymakers, however, what people don't plan very thoroughly is what they're going to wear to actually travel in: 57% of us step off a plane in unsuitable clothing, according to a poll for travel company TravelSupermarket. As someone who once sweated their way round a foreign capital in 20C heat wearing a duffel coat, I count myself among them. Mind you, that same duffel coat came in very handy in Tunis one November when winter sun turned into a week of winter sleet. About two-thirds of people also said comfort was the most important element of a travel outfit. That explains the vast amount of sports leisure wear you see on passengers at airports these days – and also makes me wonder if those celebrities you see snapped coming off transatlantic flights looking like they've just been styled for a photo shoot haven't just slipped out of something similar.Finally – and here I have an image of Tom Cruise struggling out of his fleecy LA Galaxy onesie into a leather jacket and Ray-Bans – the survey found that 10% of people admitted using plane toilets to change from one outfit into another. Classy, no?As a result of all this, TravelSupermarket has come up with a three-in-one travel outfit suitable for both hot and cold weather. At the moment it's only available for women, but it's fiendishly clever nonetheless. You start with a sort of fleecy smock that comes complete with hood and mittens. It then unzips to make a strapless dress and, if you want to take it further, a mini skirt and a crop-top.I imagine a male version would work along similar lines, though with shorts and a vest in place of skirt and crop-top. Or, bearing in mind what show-offs we can become after four hours on a plane with a well-stocked booze trolley, perhaps a one-good-pull-and-it's-gone Velcro number such as male strippers use. You wouldn't even need to visit the lavvy, just stand up in your seat and let rip at the first sight of a palm tree down below.

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Cabin couture

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