O Brother, our uniform issues just don't seem to end:  First, the silly decision to remove the stripes.  Now, read this announcement from September's Onboard Service Report Card:

"Also, some of the flight attendant dresses had a defect in the gray cording. Flight attendants who have a dress with frayed cording should send the dress with a note describing the issue to Brookhurst, at 107 W. Carob St., Rancho Dominguez, Calif, 90220-5206. When shipping the dress, it is suggested to mail it via a carrier that provides a tracking system (e.g. FedEx or certified mail). Brookhurst will replace the dress at no cost."

Will flight attendants be reimbursed for the special FedEx shipping costs, pray tell?  Or for the certified mail?  It didn't state that in the announcement.

Remember the Robert Frostlike quote from that 16-page full-color booklet---designed, printed, and mailed to thousands of flight attendants in July 2001:

"We reconnected with nature's peaceful tones by integrating the elegance and peaceful serenity of the sky and sea."

The only way to achieve 'peaceful serenity' in our cabin environment is for our lawmakers (backed by our airlines) to enforce strict passenger behavior standards.

Whoever decided on removing our stripes in the first place needs to be removed from the uniform design business---and head up Old Navy's $15.00 jeans division.  Or at the very least admit it was a mistake to remove the stripes.  The two stripes on our uniform jackets meant something.  Maybe not in a strict military chain-of-command sense, but nevertheless something very crewmember-like in the eyes of the passengers.  Our uniforms had a logical flow of authority, denoting the rank of the vessel's crew.

Grrrrrr.....  Anyway, off the soapbox and back to the news:  If you need to return the dress, use the following address:

Brookhurst
107 W. Carob St.
Rancho Dominguez, California, 90220-5206