Looking Back on the NFL Cheerleaders

In honor of the Super Bowl this Sunday, it's time to highlight the best dressed ladies on the sidelines (well, at least the most festively dressed ladies) - the Cheerleaders! 

In 1954, the Baltimore Colts were the first NFL team to have a cheerleading squad.  Compared with the modern day uniforms their uniforms topped off with blazers look very conservative.

1954 Baltimore Colts Cheerleaders

During the 60s and early 70s cheerleaders were often seen wearing pinafores or short pleated skirts with sneakers. 

San Diego Chargers Cheerleaders

New York Jets Cheerleaders

 

 

Then the Dallas Cowboys ushered in a new brand of professional cheerleading.  

In the 1960s, the original squad was a co-ed group of high school students from the Dallas area called the CowBelles and Beaux. 

1966 Dallas CowBelles & Beaux

Although they cheered their team all the way to the 1971 Super Bowl, the Cowboys' general manager, Tex Schramm, had a different vision for the squad.  He wanted to bring beauty and glamour to the sidelines.  

The high school students were replaced by an attractive group of atheletic female dancers, and the traditional cheer uniforms were replaced by the mid-drift bearing short shorts and star emblazoned vests that the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders still wear today.  
 

Wendi White (1980-1981)

Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders

The 1972-1973 Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders were the beginning of the modern era of NFL cheerleading. 

Love the addition of dance and gymnastics, but kinda miss all the cute pleated skirts.  Am I the only one?

Sky Girls

Glamour, excitement and adventure!  When women had few career opportunities, becoming a stewardess was dream come true - an opportunity to meet new, interesting people and travel the world.   Not to mention getting to model some fantastic uniforms.

Delta Air Stewardess 1957-1959

The original flight attendants in the 1930s were known as Sky Girls and were actually registered nurses.  Some pilots had hesitations about having these ladies on board, but quickly found out that the Sky Girls both calmed the passengers and made the pilots' lives easier.

The Original Sky Girls

During WWII most of the nurses working as stewardesses left their jobs with the airlines to help with the war effort.   As a result, the airlines loosened their hiring restrictions and no longer required that their stewardesses be nurses.  Now they just had to be young, slim, well groomed, friendly and, of course, unmarried.  It was modeling in the sky - so their uniforms had to be glamorous.

1940s Delta Air Flight Attendants

Chic TWA 1965 Flight Attendants

These PSA uniforms are by far my favorite.  Super girlie, sleek and sexy - a great combination.  I would love to wear one!

Pretty in Pink PSA Flight Attendents

There were also some definite fashion mistakes as well - for instance, the Braniff International uniforms of the mid-sixties - yikes!  Who came up with those?

Then there was the Space Bubble - I kinda love it.  It was designed by Pucci to keep the flight attendant's hair from getting disheveled on the tarmac.

The Space Bubble designed by Pucci in 1968

I also love the hot pants and go go boots of the 70s.  Can you imagine seeing a flight attendant in that today?

Not all stewardesses in the 70s wore hot pants, but the tone of the decade for stewardess uniforms was definitely fun and playful.

 

Hughes Airwest Flight Attendants in the Early 1970s

There are some pretty great vintage stewardess uniforms, but what's your favorite?