Singapore Airlines flight attendant uniform sold online in UK as ‘Vintage African Ankara Dress’

A Twitter user must have done a double-take upon seeing the iconic Singapore Airlines flight attendant being passed off as a vintage African dress online in London.

In a tweet that went viral, freelance writer Leylah Rose wrote, “Depop is wild… how are you selling a Singapore Airlines uniform and calling it ‘vintage African’??”, posting photos of a model wearing the dress, first draped awkwardly over a chair, and then standing up.

“That aside, I too like to know what my outfit would look like lying backwards over a chair,” Leylah Rose added.

The flight crew of Singapore Airlines (SIA) have been wearing the distinctive sarong kebaya uniform since 1972, which was designed by haute couturier Pierre Balmain. They come in four colours—blue for flight attendants, green for leading attendants, red for chief attendants and purple for in-flight supervisors.

Meanwhile, an Ankara (or Ankcara) dress is an African fashion style. Originally, the term designated a wax-printed cotton fabric with colourful symbolic patterns.

Here’s a sample:

Depop is an e-commerce company based in London, and the uniform dress was being sold by a UK-based shop called Snakecakevintage for £49, which is around SGD83.50.

The ad may have been taken down, however, as a search for Snakecakevintage’s Vintage African Ankara Dress on Depop and Etsy shows no results. 

But the original ad, as seen from Leylah Rose’s tweet reads “Vintage African Ankara Dress Co-ord Two Piece Set Skirt Floral Geometric Pattern Zip Up Side Slit Snap Button Up Top 3/4 Sleeves High Waist Indie Clothing Light Unisex 90s Y2K.”

A confusing descriptor, to say the least, and some commenters were shaking their heads.

Netizens posted photos of the iconic SIA Girl in uniform in response to the tweet.

Others decided to find humour in the situation.

Some netizens pointed out the strangeness of the “chair pose,” which Snakecakevintage uses at times in their photos, along with other unusual ones.

One woman seemed to understand wanting to buy an SIA uniform, however, tweeting, “That uniform looks so cozy I get it.”

/TISG

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