Short Shorts? Too short for the mall?

[underpants]

Brooke Vande Hei of Hampton was escorted out of Patrick Henry Mall with her son, sister and sister's boyfriend on July 17 for wearing these shorts, which security guards said were too short. She purchased these shorts from the Express in this mall earlier this year.


http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-84378sy0jul27,0,6323192.story

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.

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.

[Atman]

1. Those are perfectly normal shorts. The security gaurd is freakin' perv.

WTF!

[trotsky]

2. That she bought the shorts at the mall makes it hilarious.

She looks great in them. Patrick Henry Mall should just change their name to Puritan Mall, and then ban all the businesses who sell things that offend their prudish sensibilities.

[underpants]

8. Give me acceptable attire or GIVE ME DEATH!

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.

Thanks for pointing that out. What sweet sweet irony that is. I wonder if they will do anything to the Express or is paying their rent the only obligation here?

[NMDemDist2]

3. good grief!

some Patrick Henry Mall shoppers, who complained

next we'll all be in burkas (us wimmins that is)

[SpiralHawk]

4. "Give me short shorts, or give me death" - Patricia Henry

eom

[Ken Burch]

5. Bad mall cop, no corn dog.

nt.

[underpants]

9. LOL

:rofl:

[reality based]

6. They need to rename the mall. The King George would be appropriate. n/t

[BOSSHOG]

7. "Shoppers who complained"

She bought the shorts from a store in the mall!! Looks perfectly fine to me but I'm not a complaining shopper with a bible wedged up my ass.

[underpants]

11. Looks like the gym shorts we wore in jr. and high school to me

and I went to school in that area.

Not that where I went to school matters but those do look like the gym shorts we had to wear.

[Cassandra]

19. If she had a bible wedged up her ass...

those shorts would definitely be too short to cover that up.

[zbdent]

32. True, but does the Patrick Henry Mall also have

a Victoria's Secret?

Now there's an idea ...

[underpants]

33. Yes it does have a Victoria's Secret

http://www.shoppatrickhenrymall.com/pages/storedir/index.jsp?suite=284&floor=6

[hang a left]

42. Next thing ya know they will be complaining about

the VS manequins in the windows.

[BOSSHOG]

36. A long, long time ago

I got a Victoria's Secret Credit Card to get a discount on a present I bought for my wife. I still get the catalog addressed to me. I tell my wife she can look at the catalog but always remembers its mine. Last week me and the neighbor got to our mailboxes at the same time and sure enough he gets a VS catalog as well. It must be a loving husband thing.

[hang a left]

41. lol

My boys love my VS catalogs. Hubby too.

[WinkyDink]

10. They're short, but not butt-out short.

Mall security is becoming the local face of tyranny! Good thing her top didn't say "Peace"!

[jobycom]

12. Is this mall in a white district by any chance?

When I worked in malls, there were dress code restrictions, age restrictions, group restrictions (large groups of teens were not allowed), and all kinds of rules. They were almost always enforced only to keep "undesirables" out of the mall, or to chase away people that some store manager reported as suspicious (which generally meant black or Hispanic). In one mall the racism was so blatant security practically joked about it, being careful to not be too explicit.

Those shorts are not too short by any definition. There was something else going on. If there was a complaint, it was likely from a white store manager who was nervous about four black people in his store at the same time.

[underpants]

24. Mmm not really

Lots of mix here. "The News" downtown is looks like bomb went off in it. The shipyard is the dominate thing there. The rest of the city is a mix pretty much by area. There are of course some wealthy areas some really poor areas (one neighborhood was so gang riddled that school buses didn't go in there) lots of working class neighborhoods.

York county-mentioned in the article- makes up the northern half of the peninsula and is (was when I lived there) pretty much racially down the middle but it votes hard right. Jo Ann Davis is their congressperson.

This is THE mall in the area other than the old ones in Hampton and extensive shopping in Williamsburg-both about 30 minutes away from "The News"

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

13. Is it the shorts, or her melenin status at issue

I wonder.

[sendero]

In the 70s, those wouldn't have .

... even been close to the shortest.

Let's face it, if you are a $5 an hour "security" guard, no weapon, no status, no nothing, the only pleasure you get it throwing your weight around with stupid shit like this.

[Cassandra]

18. I see shorter ones in NY every day.

In the summer, that is.

[Debau2005]

14. This is the same area of Virginia

where my best friend's son was sent home from school over his t-shirt. He is mentally disabled and in Special Ed. He is not mainstreamed so he is in class with other Special Ed students all day. He is 14, can not read or write, and never will. His mother has taught him to be independent in the things that he can, like picking out his own clothes and getting dressed for school.

He chose a new t-shirt and jeans. As soon as he got to school they called my friend to tell her that he was being suspended for the day. He had a Hooters T-shirt on. He tried to tell them it was a Crab Shack shirt and they sent him to the principal to wait for his mother.

Now tell me what the point of him being suspended was? Have his mother bring him another but to suspend him?

They have recently moved out of Virginia, and she has found that the school system is much more willing to work with him and his needs. She called me laughing last year, because Hooters sponsored the food for the Special Olympics at school.

The puritanical "virture" of this country have spun out of control!

[babylonsister]

15. Would anyone here DREAM of complaining about the attire

of another shopper in a mall? Have these people have nothing better to do?

Mind-blowing...

[Ohio Joe]

16. Its nothing new

10-12 years ago, I worked for Ames Dept. Stores as a programmer in CT. I purchased a swimsuit calendar at an Ames store and hung it in my cube. The following day I was told to remove it because it could be considered sexual harassment.

[tanyev]

17. Is that anywhere near the reich wing Patrick Henry college?

[underpants]

21. No

this is the Va. Peninsula running NW to SE between Williamsburg and Hampton (Va. Beach and Norfolk are to the east on I64)

Patrick Henry College is on the other side of the state (WEST) near the N.Carolina line.



Depending what route you take it is probably (just a guess here) about a 6 hour drive between the two.

[tanyev]

22. OK, can't blame them then. This time.

[calico1]

20. What an ironic name for a mall. n/t

[DoYouEverWonder]

23. By Florida standards

she's overdressed.

I've seen old hags with less cloths on then that. Now there should be a law against that. Oh my eyes!

[underpants]

26. Well they haven't hit the really hot part of the summer yet

85 degrees and 85% humidity is about the norm on the peninsula in August.

She is clearing just trying to stay warm :wow: :evilgrin:

[Fox Mulder]

25. Jesus Fucking Christ.

Her shorts aren't too short.

If I were her, I would've stayed in the mall until I was dragged out by the security guards.

[MemphisTiger]

27. We have some malls here with a dress code

but usually they are for the baggy pants falling down their butt and underwear hanging out. Those shorts are a bit short, BUT the real question is was her butt hanging out? I can see that. Maybe the mall sold here those but maybe they should have sold her those in a bigger size.

[TreasonousBastard]

28. Apparently, only cute white girls can...

wear red short shorts and a camisol top. Or maybe ugly minorities. But only the ugly ones, and then only sometimes.

I mean, really now, what would the sight of all that black skin on a nice looking girl do to the morals of a red-blooded American Christian boy?

If I was looking to complain about mallwear, I can think of a lot worse I've seen.

A whole lot worse.

[marions ghost]

29. she is not inappropraitely dressed

according to today's standards which allow for as little as possible for young American women. She's barely inside that thin line of decency, but she is inside of it. I'm more worried about the complaining shoppers than the mall's dress codes. Now we have the "short short vigilantes"...

In China she would be escorted away for being mentally deranged to appear this way in public. But this is America, isn't it?

How ironic that she BOUGHT the shorts IN the mall?! :rofl:

[underpants]

34. Yes that is the great irony

but she didn't buy them at the Victoria's Secret in the mall (see post#33)

[marions ghost]

38. LOL the thought crossed my mind

that there was a Victoria's secret in that mall most likely. I know this area as I used to live in VA,
but I think this could happen just about anywhere in America these days. Typical mall--there's the Victoria's Secret, right in there with Dullard's and Hecks and Pinnies.

Yeah the hypocrisy. So why aren't these fundies picketing the Victoria's Secret (BTW a very red company), purveyors of overpriced skimpy wear? Nah, they just want to harass a real person in shorty shorts. Big fun.

[Arkansas Granny]

30. You can't tell by this picture, but these don't look short enough to

expose her bottom. Just how long do they have to be to meet the dress code at this mall. If they are going to make people leave because of their attire, they should post their dress code at the door. I see young women wearing shorts like this all the time and I never considered that they were too short.

[Libby2]

31. You have got to be kidding me?

It sounds like many shoppers were just jealous.

They look great on her.

[newportdadde]

35. As a 30 year old heterosexual male I see nothing wrong with Hei's outfit.

Of course a back view would make the call easier. :evilgrin:

Now if she were 14 with the words "hot stuff" written on the ass then I could see were the complaining would come from. I've never got how parents let there kids out of the house wearing something like that.

[TX-RAT]

37. I wonder what their opinion of mini-skirts would be?

"Mini-Skirts" Those were the days my Friend.

[Bridget Burke]

43. Or the semi-transparent blouses--in the no-bra days.

Often with 2 strategically placed pockets. We got away with quite a bit back then. (Or very little...)

I'm in pretty good shape for someone my age, but know that some things are better covered up. Perhaps the old biddies who complained were accompanied by their husbands--whose eyes were popping out of their heads.

Some of today's outfits DO seem a bit bare to me--usually worn by women in worse shape than this young lady. (She looks cute.) But I'm not going to call the cops on anyone I consider an "offender." If there were real Fashion Police, I might reconsider.

[TX-RAT]

45. Or the semi-transparent blouses--in the no-bra days.

Stop it your killing me!

[The Deacon]

39. Y'all Haven't Been to a Mall During the Day Lately,

Have you? The main denizens are "little old ladies" who come to walk the "health walk" and stay to hog all the benches in center court & make life miserable for store managers and mall security. In the "good old days" they would have tea downtown & gossip about people - now they do it in the mall center court. And they complain endlessly to mall security about "those people" (mall rats) playing music too loud, running up & down the escalators, wearing "inappropriate" attire. On Sundays they attend church & try to destroy the reputations of "loose women." On Election Day they vote for whomever Pat Robertson told them was a Good Christian. In Colonial Massachusetts they burned people at the stake. They, like the poor, will always be with us.

[Jacobin]

40. What's with all the Jerry Springer threads lately, UP?

:freak:

I do kinda enjoy them though.

[underpants]

44. Just trying to tread water

and keep my head out of "Maury Povich" threads :evilgrin: