Virgin not the only one making mistakes

In one of my previous blogs, I had mentioned about Virgin blouse/bra incident but apprently they are not the only ones.
 
Staff on the Heathrow Express are among the first Londoners many visitors see. Because first impressions count, they were given a new uniform last July, to impress during the Olympics. The two-tone skirt suits for women and trouser suits with asymmetrical buttoning for men were part of a £16 million rebranding of the line. No Uniform, who created the get-up, said they aimed to promote “a professional, refined and confident brand image”. But they were the subject of heavy criticism from the fashion pack. Fashion PR expert Nick Ede said: “They’ve obviously got influence from the Wizard of Oz. It looks like ‘Welcome to the Emerald City’ rather than ‘Welcome to the Olympic city’. They’re extremely unflattering and the colour makes staff look ill, like they’ve got jaundice.” The uniform has not been changed.

Sales staff at this clothes shop at Abercrombie and Fitch, have to be so attractive that their job title is “model” rather than shop assistant. The company has been criticised for its detailed appearance policy. The male “greeters”who stand outside are shirtless and in 2009, law student Riam Dean, who has a prosthetic arm, said the company hid her from customers because the cardigan she wore to cover her artificial arm did not fit the store's "look policy". But it’s on CEO Michael Jeffries’s private jet that the uniform is really specific. According to a 47-page “aircraft standards” manual published in 2010, male flight crew are required to be clean shaven and wear Abercrombie boxer briefs, polo shirts, jeans, flip flops and spritz the retailer's cologne #41 at regular intervals.  Everything is specified, including the precise temperature at which the crew may wear coats, 10C. The jacket should be zipped up to the fourth button from the bottom and the lowest button should be left undone. Hats are against the rules unless the temperature is below 5C. When they are worn, brims must be two-inches thick and pulled down "approximately in the middle of the forehead". The manual also stipulates that Phil Collins’ Take Me Home is played over the jet’s intercom as they take off on homeward bound flights.

It should have been a warning for Richard Branson. Female staff on National Express trains between London and Edinburgh gave back their uniforms in 2009 because the blouses were too revealing. The outfits were "simply too thin and too cheap", making them virtually "see-through", the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) claimed. More than 500 blouses were sent back and National Express were accused of "cutting costs at every corner". Now the blouses are more opaque but still don’t look like the height of chic.

Last month, Spring Airlines announced plans to make its flight attendants dress as maids and butlers. Concerns were raised over the health and safety risks of the low-cost Chinese airline’s uniform ideas, which include short skirts and high heels. Pictures of the designs posted on the airline’s Facebook page have so far received nearly 600“likes”. Other costumes suggested on the page include school uniform and superheroes and villains. They are not the first airline to cause controversy with their dresscodes. In March, female flight attendants at Asiana Airlines won a long-running battle to overturn a skirts-only dresscode, and Lion Air staff wear kimonos.

While Team Virgin’s uniform has been dubbed too revealing, staff at this elite law firm (Allen & Overy) have been told to cover up. The “Magic Circle” firm where Prince Harry’s ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy works famously told female trainees not to wear skimpy skirts and towering heels to the office. In 2011, just before Davy started, they sent out an email ticking off staff for turning up looking more like nightclubbers than would-be solicitors. They said that the timing of the email and Davy’s arrival was just a coincidence.

The Olimpics outfit that Jessica Ennis, Bradley Wiggins, Mo Farah and Ellie Simmonds wore when they won their medals, but when Stella McCartney’s kit for Team GB was unveiled it met with heavy criticism. Many branded it a “massive fail” for not featuring enough red. There’s a red trim but it isn’t used as part of the flag.  McCartney defended herself saying: “I see many feel as strongly about the Union flag as I do! The design actually uses more red and shows more flag than any Team GB kit since '84.”  Once the games started, the criticism abated – we had more important things to concentrate on. Meanwhile, the Games Makers’ outfits were mocked, with people saying that the pink and purple shirts made them look like Quality Street chocolates or as if they were inspired by Percy Pigs. Other countries didn’t have it any easier. The US team wore All-American Ralph Lauren blazers but were criticised when it emerged that they were in fact made in China.