I got dress coded at work but I know it’s just because I’m hot – everyone says my outfit’s ‘so cute’
DURING a shift at her workplace, a retail employee sneaked off to the stock room to capture her outfit after a manager reprimanded her for breaking the dress code.
Online commenters who saw the clip sided with her – and joked that she was in trouble for being “so cute.”
When Andalie Portman got dressed for her shift at Ulta that day, she picked out a full-coverage look.
The stylish woman went with a black skirt, black tights, a distressed beige sweater, and sturdy lace-up shoes for her day on the sales floor.
But soon enough, she was tucked away in a storage room to film a TikTok.
“Hot girls get dress coded at work,” she wrote in the caption.
Commenters couldn’t believe that Portman had gotten in trouble for her modest look.
“Literally no skin showing,” wrote one confused person.
“This fit is so cute,” said another, horrified by the reprimand. “WTF I’m sorry.”
Another person joked that the problem must be “how cute it is,” since there was nothing obviously wrong with the outfit.
One person guessed that the skirt was short enough to raise eyebrows, but argued against the possible cause for reprimand.
“You’re wearing tights! It’s totally fine,” she said, flabbergasted.
Then, a few ex-employees of Ulta popped in – and they spotted the issue right away.
“Is it because of the distressing on the shirt?” a former Ulta employee asked.
Portman, who has since moved on from her position, confirmed the raw-hem look of the shirt was a major component of the dress code violation.
The color was also against her store’s dress code, she wrote.
Employee testimonials on Glassdoor, Indeed, and Reddit indicate that the “core” colors permitted in Ulta’s dress code are black, white, orange, pink, and purple.
Some stores may have more open policies, which allow shades of cream and patterned or sparkly accents.
But Portman’s store wasn’t one of those, she said – the color of her top also represented an infraction.
“Ulta was SO strict about color,” wrote an ex-employee who could sympathize with Portman’s pain.
Other commenters shared the silliest things they’d received dress code demerits for, proving the logic wasn’t always instinctive.
One former retail employee said they got in trouble at work for wearing a Lady Gaga shirt, even though her music played on the sales floor constantly.
And someone else shared a ridiculous incident they encountered while working in food service.
“I got dressed coded because my work pants were ‘too skinny’ but the manager who called me out on it was wearing them too,” they laughed.