Marie Claire UK
  • Fashion Fashion
      • Fashion
        • View all Fashion
        • Fashion Trends
        • Shopping
        • Watches and Jewellery
        • Fashion News
  • Beauty Beauty
      • Beauty
        • View all Beauty
        • Fragrance
        • Hair
        • Make Up
        • Skincare
        • Nails
        • Marie Claire Beauty Awards
  • Health Health
      • Health
        • View all Health
        • Fitness
        • Nutrition
        • Female Health
        • Wellbeing
  • Life Life
      • Life
        • View all Life
        • Opinions
        • Travel
        • Sustainability
        • Weddings
        • Money & Work
        • Competitions
  • Culture Culture
      • Culture
        • View all Culture
        • TV and Film
        • Celebrity News
        • Books
        • Royal News
  • Vouchers Vouchers
      • Clothing
        • View all Vouchers
        • Mint Velvet
        • Karen Millen
        • H&M
        • nobody's child
        • ASOS
        • ARKET
        • MANGO
      • Designer Clothing
        • View all Vouchers
        • Reiss
        • THE OUTNET
        • SSENSE
        • Mytheresa
        • Liberty London
        • Selfridges
        • Farfetch
      • Accessories
        • View all Vouchers
        • AllSaints
        • Aspinal of London
        • Charles & Keith
        • River Island
        • FitFlop
        • Kate Spade
        • Vagabond
      • Jewellery
        • View all Vouchers
        • Pandora
        • Abbott Lyon
        • Goldsmiths
        • Beaverbrooks
        • Astrid & Miyu
        • Swarovski
        • Angara Jewellery
      • Beauty
        • View all Vouchers
        • Sephora
        • Cult Beauty
        • Space NK
        • Dyson
        • Clarins
        • Look Fantastic
        • Clinique
      • Activewear
        • View all Vouchers
        • Lululemon
        • Gymshark
        • Sweaty Betty
        • Nike
        • adidas
        • New Balance
        • Helly Hansen
  • NEWSLETTER Signup to our newsletter
  • logoCreated with Sketch.
    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!


    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    You are now subscribed

    Your newsletter sign-up was successful


    An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
    Trending
    • Latest Issue
    • Marie Claire Masters
    • Autumn Winter 2026
    • Nail Trends 2026
    • Best Investment Bags
    • Best Perfumes
    1. Life
    2. Travel

    There's a weird dress code on United Airlines that bans leggings

    Even Patricia Arquette got involved in leggings gate

    Delphine Chui's avatar
    By Delphine Chui
    Published 27 March 2017 In Features

    When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

    United Airlines
    (Image credit: REX/Shutterstock)
    • Facebook
    • X
    • Pinterest
    Share this article
    Join the conversation
    Follow us
    Add us as a preferred source on Google
    Subscribe to our newsletter

    Even Patricia Arquette got involved in leggings gate

    Leggings. Let's talk about them. They've divided opinion for years, but we think everyone can just about agree that they're super comfortable - making them the perfect uniform for flights, right?

    Wrong. (Apparently.)

    United Airlines have come under fire after they banned a girl (aged 10) from boarding a flight because she was wearing leggings, and that goes against their dress code.

    Yes, we're guessing you are as shocked as us.

    You may like
    • Best gym leggings: Ally Head and Sophie Cookson wearing black workout leggings We’re Notoriously Fussy Editors—Our Pick of the 21 Best Gym Leggings You Can Buy
    • Senior Health Editor Ally Head wearing some of the best petite gym leggings from Adanola These Are, Hands Down, the Best Petite Gym Leggings That Money Can Buy According to Our 5ft1 Editors
    • Best Pilates leggings: Features Editor Mischa Anouk-Smith in H&M Pilates flares So Long, Slippery and Restrictive Styles—These Are the Only 10 Pilates Leggings Team MC UK Recommends

    Considering we have been tracksuit bottom-wearing passengers before, we always considered leggings a slightly more formal choice of plane attire, so when three young girls were refused entry onto their original flights because of their dress, it didn't take long until the world knew about it.

    We already know the first thing flight attendants notice about you, but we did not expect them to judge our dress sense.

    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!

    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    Founder of anti-gun violence organisation Moms Demand Action Shannon Watts was boarding a flight from Denver yesterday when she saw the kerfuffle and started tweeting about it.

    United Airlines started replying, saying that the airline is allowed to refuse passengers who 'are not properly clothed' - and that the definition of that was 'left to the discretion of the agents.'

    And, apparently there is an internal policy that specifically bans leggings from travelling.

    What to read next
    • the MCUK team wearing a selection of the best Pilates clothes As Pilates Instructors and Health Editors, Trust Us—These Are the Only Pilates Clothes Worth Your Money
    • Bella Hadid for Alo Yoga Bella Hadid Swears By Alo Yoga—We Sweat-Tested 10 Pieces to See If It's Worth the Hype
    • Female athletes crossing the finish line at a track and field event Why We Should Care About Sexualisation in Women's Sport—and How It’s Bigger Than Sydney Sweeney

    'Our regular passengers are not going to be denied boarding because they are wearing leggings or yoga pants. But when flying as a pass traveler, we require this pass travellers to follow rules, and that is one of those rules,' was the answer given by a representative.

    It seems that 'a pass traveller' is someone who is eligible for either free or discounted air travel because they are company employees or dependents of employees - so their argument was that these 10-year-old girls were representing the company...

    Shannon's tweets started going viral yesterday, with actress, and women's rights activist, Patricia Arquette also getting involved:

    We couldn't have said it better ourselves, Patty.

    Delphine Chui
    Delphine Chui
    Social Links Navigation
    Read more
    Best gym leggings: Ally Head and Sophie Cookson wearing black workout leggings
    Fitness We’re Notoriously Fussy Editors—Our Pick of the 21 Best Gym Leggings You Can Buy
    Senior Health Editor Ally Head wearing some of the best petite gym leggings from Adanola
    Fitness These Are, Hands Down, the Best Petite Gym Leggings That Money Can Buy According to Our 5ft1 Editors
     
     
    Best Pilates leggings: Features Editor Mischa Anouk-Smith in H&M Pilates flares
    Fitness So Long, Slippery and Restrictive Styles—These Are the Only 10 Pilates Leggings Team MC UK Recommends
    the MCUK team wearing a selection of the best Pilates clothes
    Fitness As Pilates Instructors and Health Editors, Trust Us—These Are the Only Pilates Clothes Worth Your Money
     
     
    Latest in Travel
    Marie Claire UK Women Power London
    Travel Marie Claire UK Brought Some of London's Most Inspiring Women Together to Talk About the Future—Then We Talked About Everything Else
    Mischa Anouk Smith on a sunset boat trip along Türkiye’s Turquoise Coast
    Travel Forget Capri, Türkiye’s Turquoise Coast Is the Mediterranean’s New Luxury Hotspot
     
     
    Sensoria Dolomites
    Travel Part Ski Resort, Part Sanctuary, Sensoria Dolomites is Capturing the Wellness Zeitgeist
    Portrait Milano
    Travel I've Discovered the Luxury Milan Hideaway That’s Perfect for Shopping, Sightseeing and Feeling Like You've Been Gone a Week in Just Two Days
     
     
    Latest in Features
    Best Treatments for Eye Wrinkles, Dark Circles and Hooded Eyes
    Skincare From Dark Circles to Drooping Lids—An Expert Guide to What Really Works for Every Eye Concern
    collage of October fashion collaborations
    Fashion From Rixo to Burberry and M&S Lingerie, These are the Fashion Collaborations We’re Excited About Right Now
     
     
    Reverend Pippa White, author of Not a Priestess: Tales from Beyond the Pulpit, shares her experiences of sexism as a female vicar in the Church of England.
    Money and Work I Thought That When I Became a Vicar, the Sexist Remarks Would Stop—I Couldn’t Have Been More Wrong
    Olivia Munn trench coat black trousers
    Fashion Olivia Munn’s Swing Trench Is the Rainy-Weather Layer That Adds Ladylike Polish to Every Outfit
     
     
    logoCreated with Sketch.
    • Site Archive
    • Contact Future's experts
    • Contact us
    • Terms and conditions
    • Advertise with us
    • Privacy policy
    • Cookies policy
    • About us
    Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google

    Marie Claire UK is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

    © Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.