A retail store in Great Britain has lots of tips for its employees regarding their work clothes, such as hiding “lumps and bumps,” and what types of undergarments to wear.

Imagine having to explain this dress code to new hires: Do anything you can so you don’t look fat.

A retail store in Great Britain may not have been quite so blunt – but it came close.

Thousands of employees of the Next stores received a style guide that, basically, demands they look as thin as possible at work.

Among the dress code suggestions:

• Wear a certain type of clothing called “magic pants” to “hide lumps and bumps.”
• Use neck scarves to draw attention “away from those body parts you want to hide.”
• Put on bright shirts and ties to take attention away from “love handles.”
• Avoid “kitten heels if you are pear shaped.”

Some workers were insulted by the dress manual, according to a British newspaper.

An organization that helps people with eating disorders condemned the style guide.

Next’s chief executive Susan Ring said the company is entitled to expect its people to dress “smartly.”

Later, a Next spokesman said, “On reflection, we’ve made a rather thoughtless mistake. We have withdrawn the leaflet and apologized for the error.”

Well, maybe. But we kind of liked the hiding-the-love-handles idea.

Tags: dress code, fat, love handles