ARTS: The voice
behind online
greeting cards, C4
T IMES C OLONIST • T UESDAY A UGUST 7 2007 ★
The dress codes at bars and restaurants range from casual to sexy.
But some servers draw the line if it’s too revealing
Serving style
I
t’s a regular Tuesday night at Earl’s restaurant on
Government Street. Tables of mostly young men
watch NASCAR on a giant screen TV and drink
imported beers in the lower lounge. A few fam-
ilies finish up meals on the dining side of the
room.
My friend and I order lime margaritas in mon-
strous glasses. But neither of us can take our eyes
off the servers, a parade of attractive young
women showing tanned legs and heaps of cleav-
age.
“Do you have to wear sexy clothes to work
here?” my friend asks.
“Not exactly,” replies our server, who’s in a
black mini-skirt and white tank top similar to the
outfits of her predominantly female co-workers.
They are asked to wear a skirt above the knee and
at least one-inch heels, she tells us and looks down
at her rebellious flats. “It’s hard enough to be on
your feet all night.”
A spokesperson for the Earl’s chain said
provocative dress is not encouraged or represen-
tative of the firm’s brand. But
while Earl’s might not tell its
Ready employees to dress in sexy
to Wear clothes, Code, a glossy mag-
azine the company produces
twice a year, certainly sug-
gests it.
In the winter edition of
Code, a young woman in a
low-cut top, mini-skirt and
high-heeled shoes leans
against a tree with more of a
“come hither” look than
“What kind of salad dressing
would you like with that?”
The magazine describes its
contents as “cool pieces we
found that fit Earl’s...dress
SARAH code on cut and colour.” It
gives style tips like “Not too
PETRESCU steady on stilts? A pair of
Ready to Wear appears platforms might be your new
Tuesday in Life. Send your best friend,” “What’s sassier
comments, queries and than a short black skirt?” and
style suggestions to “When you show lots of skin
spetrescu@tc.canwest.com on top, don’t show so much
. on the bottom.”
Sarah models a Fashion In the recent flourish of
Spy shift from North of chain restaurants branding
Wednesday Boutique on themselves as places for
Johnson Street. trendy, urban food and fun, it
does seem hot waitresses are
their greatest feature.
Call me crazy, but I don’t find young women
stuffed into uncomfortable, skimpy clothes to run
food all night very appetizing.
Cammy Germain, 31, thinks it is plain unfair.
She’s worked as a server for 15 years, at Earl’s
when the uniform was a formal shirt and tie for
men and women, and then again this past year.
“Dress codes that are trendy and hip are great,”
said Germain, who now works at Smith’s Pub
where the uniform is black attire. “But the degree
of sexuality a woman portrays should be her own
choice.”
Germain says she left a serving job at the
Shark Club three years ago when the uniform
was changed to a black skirt no less than six
inches above the knee, a cross-back tank top and
knee-high black leather boots.
“How was I supposed to serve seniors in the
morning dressed like that or at night with men leer-
ing at me when I bent over?” Germain said. “And
it totally alienates female customers. We want their
respect and tips, too.”
Germain wrote letters to a variety of managers
at Northland Properties, which owns the Shark
Club chain as well as Moxie’s and Denny’s restau-
rants, asking them to allow women to wear pants,
but to no avail.
“It seemed unjust that they could differenti-
ate male and female dress codes like that,” Ger-
main said. “They couldn’t wrap their heads
around what I was so upset about... Finally, I was
like, How would you feel if your boss came into
your office one day and said, ‘We think you’re a
great asset to this company but from now on
you’ll wear a mini-skirt.’ ”
The Canadian Human Rights Code prohibits
employee discrimination based on gender. The
Canadian Human Rights Commission does
address complaints by women required to wear
revealing uniforms. Unfortunately, it only has
jurisdiction over federally regulated organiza-
tions.
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Cammy Germain, a server at Smith’s Pub, says individual choice, not dress codes,
should determine sexiness on the job. Smith’s calls for black attire for its servers.
Germain contacted the B.C. Human Rights Tri-
bunal and the Labour Relations Board. She was
told that she could be fired for not complying with
her workplace dress code.
“So I quit,” she said. “It was a good job oth-
erwise.”
Dave Lindsay, regional manager for the Shark
Club, says the uniforms were conceived by a mar-
keting team and management with the input of
staff.
“Sexy, intelligent and trendy is how we describe
the uniform,” said Lindsay, who says he has not
heard of a complaint or firing over the dress code
since he started working for the company last year.
“Anybody applying for a job here knows what the
uniform is. They want to work here.”
There is the adage that showing some skin
brings in more tips, subscribed to by many female
servers whether they are required to wear scanty
uniforms or not.
Germain says in her experience this is not true.
“If you look cheap, you’re treated cheap,” she
said. “I make way more tips by dressing classy
and giving good service. That’s how you build
rapport with people.”
Adam Kenno, 28, agrees. He is a manager at
the Cactus Club Café, where the uniform is styl-
ish black clothes, silver and gold jewelry, closed-
toed shoes and hair tied back for men and women.
Women can dress seductively if they like, and
many do, but not in skirts more than an inch above
the knee or anything that would impede their work
performance.
“You have to wear shoes you can walk in,” he
said. “Sure, it helps if you’re cute. But your style
has to reflect your clientele, put them at ease. We
don’t want to send the message people are meat,
because we definitely don’t want them to be
treated like they are — that’s not cool.”
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Editor: Bruce MacKenzie • Telephone: 380-5346 • E-mail: features@tc.canwest.com
Bruce Stotesbury/Times Colonist
Earl’s restaurant puts out twice-yearly
style guide for its servers called Code.
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Don’t stay
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