Collection: Transport

Collection: Transport

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Every type of transport in one place — 7 chapters, Aviation flight crew, Aviation cabin crew, Aviation ground handling and the rest, with the plates and an inventory to download.

Transport is the family that borrowed. Almost every garment in it started somewhere else — naval dress went to the merchant marine and from there to the airlines, military tailoring went to the railways, and the result is that a modern airline captain is dressed as a nineteenth-century ship's officer with the buttons changed.

The reason is not laziness. Transport organisations had to invent public-facing authority in a hurry, for staff who would be alone with passengers in a moving vehicle, and naval rank was the readiest available grammar for 'this person is in charge and knows what they are doing'. The sleeve stripe is the clearest surviving artefact of that borrowing.

Seven chapters. The contents are public; the plates and the inventory are for subscribers.

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You are viewing a free sample. The full collection contains 2,000 images of 7 uniform subtypes and an inventory spreadsheet with metadata. Free for personal and commercial use. No attribution required. Share individual images, never the whole collection.

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Sample

Up to five plates from each of the 7 chapters, in full, free to anyone. Every one is credited to the collection that holds it and links back to the record.

Aviation flight crew

This chapter is still being sourced. It is listed because the family is not complete without it, and an inventory that hides its own gaps is not an inventory.

Aviation cabin crew

Black high-heeled shoes for flight attendants at CAMC (20240518150908)
Black high-heeled shoes for flight attendants at CAMC (20240518150908) Wikimedia Commons · 148478376 · 2024-05-18 15:09:08 · N509FZ · CC BY-SA 4.0
Black high-heeled shoes for flight attendants at CAMC (20240518150910)
Black high-heeled shoes for flight attendants at CAMC (20240518150910) Wikimedia Commons · 148478377 · 2024-05-18 15:09:10 · N509FZ · CC BY-SA 4.0
Black high-heeled shoes for flight attendants at CAMC (20240518150903)
Black high-heeled shoes for flight attendants at CAMC (20240518150903) Wikimedia Commons · 148478378 · 2024-05-18 15:09:03 · N509FZ · CC BY-SA 4.0
Female flight attendant uniform of Air China at CAMC (20240518150835)
Female flight attendant uniform of Air China at CAMC (20240518150835) Wikimedia Commons · 148478543 · 2024-05-18 15:08:35 · N509FZ · CC BY-SA 4.0
Female flight attendant uniform of China Eastern Airlines at CAMC (20240518150837)
Female flight attendant uniform of China Eastern Airlines at CAMC (20240518150837) Wikimedia Commons · 148479390 · 2024-05-18 15:08:37 · N509FZ · CC BY-SA 4.0

Aviation ground handling

US Navy 091128-N-9584H-034 A Seabee guides an airfield ground crew loading equipment onto a truck on the Kandahar Airfield flightline
US Navy 091128-N-9584H-034 A Seabee guides an airfield ground crew loading equipment onto a truck on the Kandahar Airfield flightline Wikimedia Commons · 10317572 · 2009-11-28 · U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Ernesto Hernandez Fonte · Public domain
TVA Aircraft Ground Crew with Bi-Plane - NARA - 279907
TVA Aircraft Ground Crew with Bi-Plane - NARA - 279907 U.S. National Archives and Records Administration · 17163085 · 1937date QS:P571,+1937-00-00T00:00:00Z/9 · Tennessee Valley Authority · Public domain
Civil Air Patrol Stinson 105 overhaul at Coastal Patrol base 20
Civil Air Patrol Stinson 105 overhaul at Coastal Patrol base 20 Wikimedia Commons · 17378633 · 1943-06 · Office of War Information/John Collier · Public domain
Ground Personnel (3033004027)
Ground Personnel (3033004027) Ground Personnel · 26302452 · 2008-11-15 19:06 · Rennett Stowe from USA · CC BY 2.0
What it means to be..tower pusher @ Brussels Airport (7975517302)
What it means to be..tower pusher @ Brussels Airport (7975517302) What it means to be..tower/pusher @ Brussels Airport · 30671855 · 2012-08-23 10:58 · Brussels Airport from Belgium · CC BY-SA 2.0

Rail

In a Railway Carriage (After a Night's Journey)
In a Railway Carriage (After a Night's Journey) Art Institute of Chicago · 215327 · 1851 · Adolph Menzel German, 1815–1905 · Public Domain
Railway Encroachment
Railway Encroachment Art Institute of Chicago · 4583 · 1864 · Francis Seymour Haden English, 1818-1910 · Public Domain
StateLibQld 1 101840 Staff at the Cairns Railway Station, 1890
StateLibQld 1 101840 Staff at the Cairns Railway Station, 1890 Item is held by John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. · 12661554 · 1890 · creator not recorded · Public domain
Museum Railway (19632613955)
Museum Railway (19632613955) Museum Railway · 135276017 · 2015-06-14 12:48 · Susanne Nilsson · CC BY-SA 2.0
Uniformen-Markt 1941-03-01 - Deutsche Reichsbahn Dienstkleidung -anzug - Nazi Germany national railway uniforms insignia Feb 1941 02 Shoulder boards collar tabs tunics coats caps cuff title belts. No known copyright 05-41-02
Uniformen-Markt 1941-03-01 - Deutsche Reichsbahn Dienstkleidung -anzug - Nazi Germany national railway uniforms insignia Feb 1941 02 Shoulder boards collar tabs tunics coats caps cuff title belts. No known copyright 05-41-02 Wikimedia Commons · 146635582 · 1941-03-01 · Uncredited (unidentified) illustrator and photographer. · CC BY 4.0

Maritime and merchant marine

France naval fusiliers DSC03298
France naval fusiliers DSC03298 Wikimedia Commons · 135154 · 2005-05-08 · Copyright © 2005 Mai-Linh Doan, David Monniaux · CC BY-SA 3.0
HMS Tyne sailors Liberation Day march past Jersey 9 May 2007
HMS Tyne sailors Liberation Day march past Jersey 9 May 2007 Wikimedia Commons · 2095723 · 2007-05-09 · Man vyi · Public domain
Ecole de maistrance Bastille Day 2007
Ecole de maistrance Bastille Day 2007 Wikimedia Commons · 2424904 · 2007-07-14 · Marie-Lan Nguyen · CC BY 2.5
Personnel man the rails on USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19)
Personnel man the rails on USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) Wikimedia Commons · 3001711 · 2007-02-08 · U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Andrew Meyers · Public domain
Military saluting US and SK flags
Military saluting US and SK flags Wikimedia Commons · 3127896 · Taken on 19 November 2007 · Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Matthew Schwarz · Public domain

Road passenger transport

Bus conductor at work
Bus conductor at work Wikimedia Commons · 63897481 · 2017-11-06 11:15:51 · Tapiya · CC BY-SA 4.0
Zambia -Bus driver at work
Zambia -Bus driver at work Wikimedia Commons · 63977708 · 2017-10-14 15:43:19 · Thatlowdownwoman · CC BY-SA 4.0
NIGERIAN DRIVER
NIGERIAN DRIVER Wikimedia Commons · 64096389 · 2017-08-16 14:01:41 · Orji Favour Chisom · CC BY-SA 4.0
Dereva wa basi
Dereva wa basi Wikimedia Commons · 64320035 · 2017-09-20 09:29:00 · Rasheedhrasheed · CC BY-SA 4.0
Bus conductor
Bus conductor Wikimedia Commons · 64343406 · 2017-11-26 · Johnexx · CC BY-SA 4.0

Freight, haulage and delivery

POSTAL WORKERS TAKE THEIR AFTERNOON BREAK ON NICOLLET MALL - NARA - 551470
POSTAL WORKERS TAKE THEIR AFTERNOON BREAK ON NICOLLET MALL - NARA - 551470 U.S. National Archives and Records Administration · 17121530 · June 1973date QS:P571,+1973-06-00T00:00:00Z/10 · Donald Emmerich · Public domain
Distribution of mail-Thai post office
Distribution of mail-Thai post office Wikimedia Commons · 1746218 · Taken on 27 February 2007 · User:Mattes · Public domain
Buenos Aires - Empleado y automóvil del Correo
Buenos Aires - Empleado y automóvil del Correo Archivo General de la Nación (AGN) · 26370432 · circa 1920date QS:P,+1920-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1480,Q5727902 · creator not recorded · Public domain
Staff of the Delhi Central Post Office in 1903
Staff of the Delhi Central Post Office in 1903 Wikimedia Commons · 36751740 · 1903 · Lala Deen Dayal · Public domain
1984 Libramont postdame
1984 Libramont postdame Wikimedia Commons · 38044750 · 1984-05 · Smiley.toerist · CC BY-SA 4.0

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Hedda Maartens
Hedda Maartens — MA in fashion design, then eleven years in the industry designing for people who had no say in what they wore. Now writes about prescribed dress: how a garment was made to work, and what it was made to make a person into.