'There's no bottom, there's a CROTCH STRING': Hooters Girls slam 'TINY' new uniform shorts and compare them to 'PANTIES' - as infamous chain shifts its focus to bare derrieres after decades of cleavage flaunting

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Hooters has taken its 'delightfully tacky, yet unrefined' mantra to new hemline heights after introducing skimpy new uniform shorts for its female staff - who are voicing outrage over the 'tiny' derriere-baring design, while comparing the style to 'panties' and 'underwear'.  

The new uniforms, which were introduced this month, have prompted fury among Hooters Girls, several of whom quickly took to TikTok to express their horror over the new ensembles, while showing off the 'revealing' hot pants to their followers. 

Hooters' decision to introduce the derriere-baring hotpants marks a major shift in focus for the infamous 'breastaurant' - which was founded by six men in 1983 and quickly built a salacious reputation on hiring ample-chested women who serve customers while modeling cleavage-baring tank tops and T-shirts. 

The uniform has always been a major focus for Hooters, which has reportedly told its staff in the past to cover up their behinds in an attempt to maintain an element of modesty and keep the focus of its customers on the workers' chests. 

It may well be that Hooters' introduction of a new uniform was influenced by a 2017 report, which indicated that the restaurant's flagging sales may have been to blame - at least in part - on the changing sexual fantasies of millennial men.   

At the time, Business Insider reported that 'millennials are less interested in breasts than their elders', after adult website Pornhub revealed that people between the ages of 18  and 24 were 19 per cent less likely to search for breasts when seeking X-rated content online than older generations. 

In the four years since those figures were released, Hooters' business has continued to dwindle - and it seems that the company is now trying to nip the issue in the 'butt' as it were, courtesy of its new buttock-baring uniforms.  

Controversy: Hooters has sparked fury among female staff members after introducing a tiny new uniform shorts (pictured) that some are calling 'pornographic' and comparing to 'panties'

The originals: Many Hooters Girls have taken to TikTok to show off the 'revealing' new design, while comparing them to the old style - which covered their buttocks (pictured)

Spot the difference! Texas-based Hooters Girl Giselle Nguyen, 20, shared a comparison video on her TikTok account, showing off the difference between the old (left) and new (right) shorts 

Confusion: Hooters waitress Lexi, from Atlanta, joked that her 'new shorts' were actually 'panties' while posing in the design 

New direction: Kirsten Songer, 22, who has worked for the chain for a year, tried on her old and new shorts in a TikTok video, joking that the updated version 'no longer covers anything' 

While the chain's previous uniform did also feature very short shorts, a number of the eatery's staff members say they always felt comfortable in the designs because their buttocks were completely covered. 

On the other hand, the new skin-tight hotpants do quite the opposite courtesy of their very high-cut design, which some staff members have gone as far as to label 'pornographic'. 

'So, this is what I'm supposed to be wearing... and I hate it,' 22-year-old Hooters bartender Kirsten Songer said while modeling her new uniform for her followers.  

'The new black shorts, they do not have a bottom, they have a crotch string. So they sit like this... oh look, a wedgie!

'There is no longer anything covered by these shorts. And this is what the problem with the new shorts is, this is why all of the Hooters girls are upset. Because this is not what I agreed to wear a year ago when I was hired.'

Kirsten - who earned viral fame in July when she posted a series of videos detailing how she fakes ample cleavage for her job, despite having AA-cup breasts - tried on both her old shorts and her new to make clear the differences in the design, noting that while the original pair could not be considered demure, they covered much more skin that the updated version. 

'As far as the shorts go, we have orange shorts and we have black shorts,' she explained. 'The orange shorts are if you're waitressing on the floor and they tend to run a little bit bigger.'

The bartender then tried on her old orange shorts while turning around in front of the camera to show off the fit, before then putting on the new design. 

In another video, the TikTok-famous Hooters Girl joked that she was tempted to quit her job over the uniform change, explaining in her caption that she 'had seen [other] TikToks about the shorts' but was still stunned to discover just how small they really are. 

'I got mine today and this is WILD,' she wrote, before reassuring her followers: 'I didn't actually quit, don't worry.'  

Back in the day: Although the Hooters Girl uniforms have always featured short shorts, the chain has reportedly always wanted its staff to keep their buttocks completely covered

Upset: Some Hooters Girls - including Gracie Herrick - have joked that they were temped to quit their jobs after seeing the new uniforms 

Barely there: The new shorts feature a very high-cut hemline at the back, which is designed to flash the wearer's buttocks; all staff members are required to wear tights under their shorts 

New direction? The uniform update marks a major shift for the infamous eatery - which is best known for hiring ample-chested female staff who flaunt their cleavage in low-cut shirts

Confusion: Kirsten went viral in July for revealing how she fakes ample cleavage for work despite having size AA-cup breasts, and now her video about the shorts has gone viral

'I hate it': The University of South Carolina graduate said that the new high-rise style gives her a 'wedgie' no matter how she wears them

Other Hooters Girls have been a bit more tongue-in-cheek about their new uniform requirements, with many posting joking videos set to humorous songs or sounds while flashing their high-cut hotpants for the camera. 

Two staff members said that their new shorts have taken their uniforms from 'PG' to 'porn' while modeling them in front of the camera, joking that they hadn't realized Hooters could actually make their skimpy uniforms 'even shorter'. 

Another waitress, Giselle Nguyen, 20, from Texas, filmed herself holding up her old and new shorts, while asking: 'What's that supposed to fit?!' 

After being bombarded with requests from her followers, she then tried on both of the styles, revealing just how much more skin the new design shows off.  

DailyMail.com has reached out to Hooters for a comment.

The chain's new uniforms appear to signal a change in direction for Hooters - which has been so determined to maintain focus on the appearance of its staff members' chests that it has reportedly told waitresses to cover up their backsides in the past in an attempt to keep up its cleavage-concentrated image. 

One former staff member who penned a piece about the new shorts for Mel Magazine claimed that she was actually told to wear a larger size in her uniform shorts back in 2015 because she 'had too much a** hanging out' and they wanted her to look 'more conservative'. 

'When I was first hired, I was given an XXS pair of shorts,' she shared. 'I don’t bring this up to highlight how petite I am, but rather to highlight Hooters’ sizing system. 

'A few days in, a male manager had the woman training me take me into the bathroom to tell me that I simply had too much ass hanging out of these XXS shorts, and was promptly switched to a more conservative XS pair.'

Awkward: According to Kirsten, the new shorts are so small that she has actually had to size up because her normal fit - XXS - is almost impossible for her to put on 

Teeny: She held up the old and new shorts styles for the camera to demonstrate just how small the new design is in comparison with the old pair

Tongue-in-cheek: Two Hooters waitresses joked that their new shorts have taken their uniforms from 'PG' to 'porn'

Hooters has also always implemented very strict rules about its staff members' hair, makeup, and nails, with one waitress revealing to Cosmopolitan in 2018 that the chain wanted to avoid its workers from ever looking 'tacky'.

'Hooters is actually very strict,' Courtney Dietz told the outlet. 'Nails have to be French or nude. You're only allowed to wear a ring on your ring finger, no other jewelry. Your hair has to be done. You have to have a full face of makeup on. 

'There's a certain way you have to wear your uniform. It's already Hooters, so we don't want you to look tacky!'

Courtney added that there were very specific uniform rules regarding the shorts, explaining that staff were encouraged to show off what Hooters calls 'the smile under the shorts' - referring to the bottom crease of the buttocks. 

However, she claimed that Hooters Girls were told to ensure that there was always some 'extra space' in their shorts so that they didn't appear 'skintight'.

'You have to see what we call the smile under the shorts,' she shared. 'We call the shorts chicken wings so that when you turn around, there's some extra space in your shorts and they're not skintight.'

Three years later, it appears that policy has now changed - with the TikTok videos about the new shorts revealing the design to be incredibly form-fitting, leaving almost nothing to the imagination.  

However, the chain seems to be swimming against the cultural tide when it comes to its new uniforms - which were introduced despite the fact that many continue to blame the restaurant's downturn on changing attitudes towards the eatery's 'outdated' focus on the appearance of its female staff. 

Hooters has also faced legal repercussions for its decades-long focus on the gender, physical size, shape, and appearance of its staff. In 1997, two men sued the chain in Chicago after they were turned down for jobs because they were male. According to the Chicago Tribune, the lawsuit ended in Hooters offering a $3.75 million settlement to the men - and promising to open up some 'gender-neutral' positions for males in its eateries.  

It's not all bad! 22-year-old waitress Amanda Adams says she 'actually likes the new shorts'

Oh no: However most of the women posting about the shorts appear less than impressed with their uniform update - with many saying the old style (pictured) was small enough

Itsy bitsy: The new style (pictured) features a much smaller amount of material in the crotch area and it has a very high-cut hemline at the front and back

However in 2009, it faced another lawsuit over the same issue - this time from a man in Texas. While the chain settled once again, it argued in both instances that their hiring practices are in fact perfectly legal, because they classify their Hooters Girls as 'entertainers' rather than wait staff. 

'Typically, gender based hiring is not permitted... [However] the law allows the discrimination when it is necessary for the purpose of authenticity or genuineness as for an actor or fashion model,' a spokesperson for the restaurant told Business Insider in 2015. 

'While we offer world famous wings and burgers, the essence of our business is the Hooters Girl and the experience she provides to our customers. Hooters Girls are entertainers. They audition for their roles and, once hired, they must maintain a glamorous appearance, and sing, dance and engage the customers to provide a unique Hooters experience.'

Still, Hooters' justification for its female-focused staff has not helped to revive its flagging sales.  

Between 2008 and 2011, the chain closed 35 of its 400 restaurants, and that decline continued between 2012 and 2016, when they were forced to shutter a further seven per cent of their outlets.  

In 2013, it was reported that Hooters' sales had 'mostly fallen' for five out of the previous six years - prompting the chain to implement a major makeover across all of its eateries, which not only saw the venues themselves getting an overhaul, but also the uniforms for its staff.     

Blame for the chain's ongoing struggles continued to be placed on its 'sexist' image - something that the company attempted to tackle in 2017, when it announced that it was opening a new family-friendly version of its original restaurant, which is called Hoots. 

The first Hoots opened in Chicago, where customers were greeted not by breast-baring Hooters Girls, but by both male and female servers who were dressed in much more conservative attire. 

In 2019, the company made the decision to expands the 'fast-casual' Hoots nationally, announcing plans to open two more Chicago-based locations, as well as a fourth eatery in Atlanta, Georgia.

Hoots now boasts 11 locations across the country, with plans to open three more in the coming months.  

The history of the Hooters Girl: How iconic role made famous by original blonde bombshell Lynne Austin became mired in controversy

Hooters was first founded by a group of six male friends in Clearwater, Florida, in 1983 - in what the group described as 'the happiest accident in history'. 

According to the chain, the men - who had no restaurant experience - wanted to open a venue 'they couldn't get kicked out of'. 

From the start, Hooters was mired in controversy; its six founders were arrested shortly after announcing their plans to open an eatery over accusations that they were 'impersonating restauranteurs'. The charges were eventually dropped and plans for the first Hooters were put into motion - with its founders vowing to open a space aimed at male customers, with a focus on chicken wings, beer, sports - and attractive female servers. 

The original Hooters Girl - Lynne Austin - was hired shortly after the chain opened, after co-founder Ed Droste spotted her competing in a bikini contest and decided that she was the perfect embodiment of what they wanted their servers to look like. 

The original Hooters Girl: Model Lynne Austin was the first-ever woman to wear the now-infamous uniform after a restaurant co-founder spotted her in a bikini contest

Changes: The original Hooters Girl uniform featured very short shorts, however they were baggy enough to allow coverage of the derriere

Austin became a poster girl for the eatery and helped to immortalize the image of the Hooters Girl as a slim, busty, all-American beauty - all while clad in the now-infamous orange-and-white uniform.  

The founders seized on Austin's popularity, and within two years of the first Hooters' opening, they released the first-ever Hooters calendar, a move that they followed with the launch of Nite Owl Theater in 1987 - a series of late night TV programming featuring their most popular Hooters Girls. 

Over the next ten years, the Hooters Girl image continued to soar - as did the success of Hooters' restaurants, which began popping up in new locations across the US, prompting the company to release its own line of wing sauces that were sold in supermarkets all over the country. 

However, in 1997, Hooters' focus on female employees began to stir up trouble for the company when two men filed a lawsuit against the chain, claiming that they had been discriminated against when they were turned down for jobs because of their gender. 

According to the Chicago Tribune, the lawsuit ended in Hooters offering a $3.75 million settlement to the men - and promising to open up some 'gender-neutral' positions for males in its eateries. 

However in 2009, Hooters faced another lawsuit over the same issue - this time from a man in Texas. While the chain settled once again, it argued in both instances that their hiring practices are in fact perfectly legal, because they classify their Hooters Girls as 'entertainers' rather than wait staff. 

Updates: over the years, the Hooters uniform has changed only slightly, with the orange-and-white theme remaining in place for decades

'Typically, gender based hiring is not permitted... [However] the law allows the discrimination when it is necessary for the purpose of authenticity or genuineness as for an actor or fashion model,' a spokesperson for the restaurant told Business Insider in 2015. 

'While we offer world famous wings and burgers, the essence of our business is the Hooters Girl and the experience she provides to our customers. Hooters Girls are entertainers. They audition for their roles and, once hired, they must maintain a glamorous appearance, and sing, dance and engage the customers to provide a unique Hooters experience.'

Despite the legal controversies, the Hooters Girls remained a key draw for fans of the eateries - until recently, when the chain began drawing furious criticism over its 'sexist' and 'outdated' policies regarding the hiring and appearance of its wait staff. 

And that's not the only thing that has stymied the restaurant chain's success in recent years. 

According to Business Insider, the company may also be suffering from the impact of changing tastes as far as young men and women's sexual fantasies are concerned. 

The outlet reported in 2017 that 'millennials are less interested in breasts than their elders', after adult website Pornhub revealed that people between the ages of 18  and 24 were 19 per cent less likely to search for breasts when seeking X-rated content online than older generations. 

In the four years since those figures were released, Hooters' business has continued to dwindle - and it seems that the company is now trying to nip the issue in the 'butt' as it were, courtesy of its new buttock-baring uniforms.  

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