Should the Mall have kicked her out?

[CEDmom]

Wow, I don't see anything wrong with what she has on. She has a nice figure and looks fine. I see people in similar outfits all the time. I've also seen much much worse.

 

[zagafi]

Ok, those are SO not what I was expecting. THAT is what the kerfluffle was about??

 

[wendyl]

There's got to be more to the situation. I'm willing to bet that either those aren't the shorts she was wearing, or she was wearing them very very differently. I have a hard time believing any mall would kick out a girl for wearing that outfit. Sounds like she WAS wearing shorts high enough to show her rear, because when asked to either leave or pull them down some , she pulled them down (there didn't seem to be surprise at the request, or even denial they were too short from what I gather from her side of the story). What we don't know is if she immediately them pulled them back up as soon as the security person left.

 

[snowwite]

Below is an article about a young lady that was kicked out of a mall in Newport News, VA (Patrick Henry Mall) because someone complained about what she was wearing. You would think maybe it was vulgar or showing "her goods" or something, right? Well, you be the judge.

Here is the article and below is a picture of the woman wearing the "offensive outfit". What do you think? Offensive enough to be removed from a mall? And does it make it okay if one person doesn't like your outfit that if they complain you can be removed from an establishment that has no dress code clearly posted? The shorts are short, yes, but so short that you could see anything?

Ironically, she was shopping in Express when asked to leave. Where did she buy the shorts? Express

July 27, 2006
NEWPORT NEWS -- One day last week, when 24-year-old Brooke Vande Hei chose her outfit to go shopping with her son, her sister and a friend, she didn't give it a lot of thought.

But it definitely caught the attention of some Patrick Henry Mall shoppers, who complained to security officers that her shorts were too short. The officers told Vande Hei to cover up or leave. She eventually left, but she later said her shorts revealed nothing but her legs.

Her eviction from the mall for wearing improper clothes - a rarity at Patrick Henry Mall - has sparked a debate on mall dress codes.

The mall is itself a contradiction: a private property with public access. This combination can create a delicate balance between personal freedom and ensuring the comfort of all shoppers.

An informal poll at Patrick Henry Mall this week found a mix of opinions on what's appropriate and what's not.

Keri Allen, a 30-year-old Newport News resident, said she wouldn't like to see "anything provocative," such as a low-cut top or a skirt ending at the hip, but she said something baring a woman's midriff is fine.

Taking it a step further, 41-year-old Sandra Phillips of York County described her ideal dress code as "fairly conservative," with minimal skin showing."I say good for the mall for asking her to leave," she said.

But 20-year-old Rachel Harless, who lives in Gloucester, said shoppers should have the freedom to dress how they want.

"A mall can't say what we can or can't wear in public," she said.

Patrick Henry Mall's dress code is at the discretion of mall management, a fact usually posted at all entrances. During the mall's ongoing renovation, however, the signs have been removed.

The dress code has been a bone of contention before at the mall. A motorcyclist was asked to remove his bandanna or leave in 1994. Calling his bandanna sun protection and not gang wear, the biker chose to leave.

A few shoppers who were told about Vande Hei's shorts said they often see skimpier clothing in the mall.

"The mall sees people like that all the time," said 33-year-old Eric Taylor of Newport News, "so I'd think it would have been pretty bad if they made her leave."

Vande Hei was shopping at Express last Monday when two mall security officers approached her and told her that her outfit was inappropriate under the mall's dress code.

They told her to change her clothes, pull her shorts down a little more or leave. She tugged them down a bit and continued to shop. She thought that was the end of it.

But about 15 minutes later, the security guards told Vande Hei that she would have to leave the mall because of complaints the mall received.

"I thought it was ridiculous," she said. "They should be monitoring other things besides my clothing. I wasn't bothering anybody. I hadn't done anything wrong." The officials walked her to the exit "like a criminal," she said, and her 4-year-old son began to cry.

She insists the shorts, worn on a day when the temperature hit 93 degrees, are not provocative.

"There was nothing sticking out. I would never go out like that, especially if I'm with my son," said Vande Hei, an administrator for Gannett Media Technologies International in Norfolk.

"It's not fair to harass people just because some people didn't like what I had on."

But mall security said they saw a small area of Vande Hei's derriere after other shoppers called for security, said mall spokeswoman Moffat Welsh.

It's not uncommon to receive complaints from shoppers about clothing they find inappropriate, Welsh said. But asking customers to leave is a rare thing. During the past two years, Welsh remembered that a man with a lewd comment on his T-shirt and another with pants that dropped to the ground were asked to leave.

Welsh disagreed with Vande Hei's portrayal of being led out of the mall. No one is "escorted" out by officers for a dress code violation, she said.

But Vande Hei said the bad memory of walking out with security guards by her side lingers with her. She said she doesn't feel comfortable going back to Patrick Henry Mall, a fact that saddens her - she once bought a certain pair of red sporty shorts at the Express there.

For mall officials, the issue boils down to keeping their shoppers happy.

"We just don't want our shoppers embarrassed," Welsh said, "The mall should be a nice, comfortable place for everybody."

She loks fine to me. I see people in some pretty wild and slutty outfits but I figure to each his own. I am shocked she was kicked out. Do I smell lawsuit?

 

[marybet]

I have seen many strange things at the mall but I have never gone to security and complained about it. Who does that? It just amazes me that there are people who do that. If you don't like what someone is wearing, don't look.

 

[pixiemomma]

I have seen many strange things at the mall but I have never gone to security and complained about it. Who does that? It just amazes me that there are people who do that. If you don't like what someone is wearing, don't look.

No kidding. That person needs to get a life. I can't see why anyone would be offended by her clothing anyway.

 

[Shugardrawers]

I frequent that mall too. I've seen far worse but then we aren't seeing the back end which I'm guessing is where the problem is. Honestly? There is an appropriate way to dress for any occasion and too often people just don't seem to care. Peeking cheeks aren't appropriate in the mall. Mall management has the right to refuse service to anyone. They were within their rights to ask her to leave. Since I didn't see it I don't know if her butt was hanging out but if it was I'd be, not offended, but a little grossed out. You have to draw the line somewhere and consider the comfort of not just you but everyone around you as well.

 

[Planogirl]

Maybe her shorts are real short and tight in the back and she wasn't wearing undies? I don't know, from what I can see it's no worse than other outfits I've seen. But then the mall can set their own rules being private property and all.

 

[Shugardrawers]

Just saw a story on the local news. While the shorts are real short, they showed her walking from behind and nothing was hanging out. I'm on her side now. And I'm jealous she has the butt and legs to carry it off!

 

[hiwaygal]

Just saw a story on the local news. While the shorts are real short, they showed her walking from behind and nothing was hanging out. I'm on her side now. And I'm jealous she has the butt and legs to carry it off!

are you watching channel 13??

DH said they just showed it and I missed it!

 

[Shugardrawers]

Yeah, it was 13. I didn't see any butt cheek at all. And they showed her walking across a parking lot so I think it probably wasn't nearly as bad as it's being made out to be.

 

[momof2inPA]

Do they sell shorts that short at the mall? If they sell them there, people should be able to wear them there. I confess, when I was young and hot, I had shorts at least that short.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

That's sickening. I can't even fathom "telling on" someone at the mall for what she was wearing-even if it was something profane. I can't fathom mall security saying "you're absolutely right ma'am, we'll ask her to leave." Ridiculous. Why can't people just MYOB and look away.

Well, being from St. Louis you should know that "Union Station" kicks people out.

In fact a women with cancer, who was lawyer, tried to sue them for kicking her out for wearing a bandana to cover her bald head, from chemo.

It was a few years ago but Union Station claims to kick out people for not following there dress code.

 

[Dislifer]

I see a law suit coming! She is dressed totally fine!!! That's ridiculous!

 

[SandraVB79]

I don't know what i find the saddest: mall management/ security bothering about escorting someone out because they think she isn't dressed properly (must be a very safe mall, that they have time for things like that) or the fact that there are people that take the time to go complain to security/ management about other people's clothes.

IF I had to complain about all the inappropriate outfits I saw at WDW in May, I don't think I would have left City Hall. But then, I wouldn't have seen the inappropriate outfits.

Some people have way too much time, are way too uptight and need to brighten up!

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

For those that are saying that maybe that isn't what she really wore - this has gotten pretty big coverage all the way up to Richmond (Yeah, slow news week - thats a good thing though) and the mall is standing by their decision. I'm sure that if she went to the media and was photographed with a completely different outfit the mall would be saying something.

The girl was interviewed on a local radio show yesterday. She seemed very intelligent and quite shocked about the whole situation, but not in that "I'm going to sue them for every penny they have" way. She seemed more embarrassed than anything.

They also had the reporter from the Newport News local paper that wrote this story on and they asked if he had talked to the mall and the security guards - which he did. They asked if he found out who complained and he said it was some grandmotherly lady that complained first (they probably sent the rest of her posse in after the girl )

 

[Todd&Copper]

Maybe she was bending over and that was when other shopper thought it was inappropriate. Honestly, if that is what happened, I would have just pointed and laughed at her. I think she looks no more inappropriate than the hordes of pudgy teenage girls who buy low rise pants in a size or two too small and wear skin tight spandex tops - when DH and I see them we cannot tell if they are pregnant or just fat.

 

[Serena]

There is nothing wrong with what she is wearing.

My grandmother called someone a slut because she had bare shoulders.

It's ridiculous what people will let other people get by with.

 

[RadioNate]

She looks fine to me. I WISH I looked like her in short shorts!

Some people really need hobbies. I have better things to do with my time that complain about what strangers are wearing at the mall.

I think it is just really sad that someone took the time to complain and that the mall actually took the time to track her down and throw her out. I find that much more pathetic and offensive than her shorts!

 

[robinb]

Not only that but she was approached by security and told she had to leave in the very store she purchased them!

Oh, that's not right!