It’s not a reality show, but when the new ABC television Network series Pan Am premiered in September, viewers got a glimpse at replicas of authentic styles worn by Pan Am flight attendants in the early 1960s.

That’s due in part to the fact that one of the show’s executive producers, Nancy Hult Ganis, was a Pan Am flight attendant back in the day.

“Pan Am women, and men, experienced it all first-hand,” said Ganis, who recalled the philosophy of Pan American World Airways founder Juan Trippe.

“He wanted his employees, particularly his crews, to be positive role models who would not sully the Pan Am image,” she said.

And they did it all with style.

Ane Crabtree, costume designer for Pan Am, reviewed old photos and film footage from the early 1960s to develop the styles worn by actors on the series. She also turned to Ganis, who flew with Pan Am from 1960 to 1968, for direction.

Crabtree, who is too young to remember the era, found the research process enlightening, describing the flight attendants’ uniforms of the day as “elegant …highlighting the mystery and mystique of women” with exquisite details in stitching, shapes and accessories referencing the dawn of the Jet Age.

In-flight fashion has changed through the decades. Some carriers choose to highlight ethnic and cultural traditions while others set their sights on fashion-forward styling. Some designs are hits. Others are misses. But as they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.