Mum ordered to leave a shop for wearing backless top

Should stores now be policing people's clothes? Just two days ago, a lady told of how she was kicked out of a mall for wearing shorts in hot weather (read here).

Now, another woman has suffered the same thing. Leanne Kennedy was ordered to leave a garden centre for dressing "inappropriately".


She had gone to buy some outdoor equipment in The Range, in Gosport, Hampshire in England when the staff accused her of not covering up properly and asked her to leave. The 30-year-old mother said she was left traumatised by the incident.

Leanne said:

 "It must have been about 2 p.m., and the weather was 24C. I'd just gone in to buy some gardening supplies to spend the afternoon with my daughter in the garden.All of a sudden I was approached, not very discretely, and told, in front of other customers, that what I was wearing wasn't appropriate, and that I had to put a top on or leave. I thought she was joking, I was wearing a normal summer outfit. When I tried to laugh it off, she said that if a man came in without a top on, they would say the same thing."

Leanne later lodged a complaint with the shop and got an apology from a customer service rep who agreed that should never have happened.
They said:

"I can advise that we do not have a specific dress code in place that would prevent you from shopping with the photographed outfit. I apologise for any inconvenience caused on this occasion."

Leanne acknowledged the apology but said it was not enough to make up for her embarrassment. She said:

 "I was humiliated, traumatised. It's discrimination. People were staring at me, I felt like I was being followed and had no choice but to put my things back and just leave the store. I don't feel as though an apology is enough after what they've put me through. I don't know what could fix this, but I wouldn't wish this humiliation on anyone."