Travilla 1964-1965

Textured silk suit with its own chiffon sweater. Jeweled cufflinks repeat the daisy print in semi-precious stones.

A simple, chic, fully-lined silk shift with a print of red yachts under full sail.

A pink matelassé evening suit with a pink crepe blouse.

A chiffon skirted dress with an Empire bodice of guipure lace re-embroidered with pearls.

A cocktail costume of black silk and worsted luminous wool features a skirt of arched godets and a touch of velvet at the collar. A rose accents the neckline.

A three-piece of ochre-colored linen accented with pink flowers and a chiffon blouse of mauve.

Backstage at a 1965 Houston Texas Charity Event


Travilla based several of his retail designs on those he did for Joanne Woodward in the film Signpost to Murder.

A shirtdress of Onondaga silk alpaca. Tuxedo dickie and white cuffs and pointed collar. In beige and white and other color combinations.

Evening jacket of ribbon rose lace with oversized collar and six large pearlized buttons.

White silk organdie with a deep pointed collar, long French-cuffed sleeves over a skirt of black ribbon lace, with a black silk belt.

A tailored coat with big sleeves of organdy roses.

A red tailored jacket with three-button closure.

A formal gown of buttercup chiffon in biased tiers. The waistline tier is extended into a floating circular double overskirt with a matching belt.

Small-checked coat of Italian fibranne with flared skirt and big pockets. Accented with black bone buttons.

Bronze wool jersey coatdress with long, narrow sleeves, buttons from neck to hem, and two deep welted pleats close to the body above.

Hot pink pleated crepe hostess pajamas with the Empire Line marked by a narrow sash tied in the center front. The flared hemline is held by a nylon fishing cord.

Afternoon dress of Italian white crepe with large black and taupe coin dots with a graceful drape of a sling-back.

A pure romantic gown of Whelans white peau d'ange lace spiced with poufs of flamingo and citron ribbons. A slim front with the panel in the back falling into the presentation train. 

Imported black dress and white jacket in a diagonal weave. Large black buttons accented with a bow.

Free-form designs add multi-color to a slim tunic dress in black silk and a cuff-neckline sheath in oyster white.

Seams to the front, a diagonal weave, and shoulder width give added figure flattery in this black dress.

Travilla 1964 & 1965 - TWA & United Airlines

Fashion was easy, but Travilla's foray into the commercial side of aviation travel began as a complete surprise. Gina Cord, his fashion director (and former house model), read in the newspaper that Trans World Airlines (TWA) sought a designer to create the new uniforms for the 1965 season. Travilla only found out when Gina informed him that the airline had set an appointment in his salon to discuss the project. Travilla quickly created a series of sketches to present.

Summer had a slightly military feel in wrinkle-resistant rayon. 1) Tab Collar with fly front closing and decorative buttons. Another has the front of the jacket easing into the body with a straight back. Slot Seaming designates button placement. False cuffs snap into jacket sleeves for added summer crispness. Straight-line skirts had front and back panels with four pleats. The blouse repeats the slot-seam detail. 2) had a fitted jacket with a rising collar punctuated with a hip band of dyed fabric in a contrasting sheen. The four-panel skirt has four pleats for comfort and ease. The cotton/rayon blouse has ribbon detail in the same fabric. 3) Open-air collarless jacket with cut-out embroidery logo revealing white blouse. Detachable mock-shirt cuffs. The blouse has a stand-away portrait collar. Four-panel, four-pleat skirt.

Winter featured 4) 100% worsted wool in black with flecks of turquoise. The jacket is shaped to the front of the body and straight back. The narrow slot marks the front closure. Four pleats in the skirt. Glove-length sleeves have slot seam detailed cuffs. The blouse is draped at the neckline to assimilate the look of a sports neckline. 5) 100% worsted wool in black with flecks of turquoise. The cropped jacket is slightly fitted in front with a plastron front with black braid cording that outlines the sleeve with its artificial sleeve cuff. The skirt has four pleats and is high-rise with silk suspenders worn under the cropped overblouse. The TWA emblem is suggested as a cut-out embroidery revealing the blouse color underneath.

TWA chose French designer Givenchy to promote their international destinations, which was a blessing. Chicago clothing manufacturers Hart, Schaefer, and Marx somehow got a hold of his designs and wanted Travilla to update United Airlines Summer flight attendant uniforms for 1965. As the largest airline in the United States with 2400 flight attendants, Travilla's design would be seen by a larger audience than TWA.

Since their introduction in 1930, United's stewardess uniforms have always been fashionable. Still, they retained a military or business-like influence that, by the mid-1960s, needed a rejuvenation of youthfulness, which Travilla was able to provide, according to the November 1964 edition of United's in-flight magazine The Shield:

"Fashion will fly high next summer as UA Stewardesses go aloft in a brand-new outfit. Frankly feminine & at the same time, practical, it was designed especially for them by Travilla, a nationally recognized California stylist. The new ensemble was previewed in L.A. on Nov. 20 during California Fashion Creators Press Week. Worn by Travilla model Gina Cord, it received an enthusiastic reception from fashion editors & others attending the showing."

Both made from a Dacron polyester/worsted wool mohair material in "Blue Frost," the jacket had a softly rolled V-neck collar, with a lightly fitted, boxy style that fell a little below the waist, 3/4 length sleeves with detachable, white drop cuff trims that snapped in place. The skirt was smartly flared with 2 pleats in the front & 2 in the back and a back zipper with a button closure at the top of the zipper. A white crepe Dacron blouse with short sleeves & an "avril" round neck with an untied ascot drape. The outfit was topped by a perky "sugar scoop" style hat with an optional white sheer scarf for windy days.

Flight attendant Connie Balls of Charlotte, North Carolina, told journalist Christine Anderson, "The movement of the skirt is wonderful for a job like outs -- even though sometimes a bit disconcerting coming down the steps from the plane on a windy day." Pat Daly of Providence, Rhode Island, loved how "we could reach up with no tuck-back-in problems from the white overblouse.

Nancy Simmons recalled, "But I did wear the Summer uniform that Travilla designed, and that was my favorite out of the five I had in my eight-year career. The material was wonderful, and we always looked fresh!"

Diane Baker told me, "I wore this uniform when I first started flying for UA in the summer of 1965 out of the JFK base. It was often called "the cheerleader skirt uniform" since the skirt "flared" as we walked. It was "fun" to wear the uniform, and we often received compliments from passengers. The color was most attractive, and the style was quite different from past UA uniforms and from most other airlines' uniform styles, as well." 

Variations with lace and service apron designs.