Since the opening of the first Disney park, Disney has had standards for the Disney Look. This look was to help separate the Disney parks from the traditional amusement parks and make cast members look approachable, safe, and professional. Some of these are a bit humorous but many are still enforced today. Below are a few of the standards that cast members had to follow…..
Women

•  Hair cannot exceed 2 inches in height
• No Wigs
• No Frosted or Streaked hair
• No Eye Shadow, Eyeliner, or False Eyelashes
• Fingernails have to be no longer than one quarter of an inch.
• No Earrings
• No Perfume

Men

• Hair cannot exceed 1 inch in height
• Hair cannot touch ear or collar.
• Sideburns cannot go below the middle of the ear.
• No beards, mustaches, or toupees.

Both Men and Woman

• No visible tattoos
• No more than one ring per hand
• Undergarments have to be worn at all times.

These standards were strict and inflexible but over the years they have relaxed a few.
When the Magic Kingdom opened in 1971 they allowed women to wear quarter inch plain earrings.

In 1994 the earring size increased to the size of a quarter and women were now allowed to wear eye shadow, eyeliner, flat shoes, hairpieces, and colored fingernail polish (no bright colors of course).

A big change was made in 2000 which allowed employees to grow mustaches. Yes after all these years Walt was the only cast member allowed to sport a mustache. The mustache had to be fully grown in and could be no longer than a quarter of an inch.

In 2010 changes were made so that women didn’t have to wear pantyhose with skirts and even allowed sleeveless tops, as long as those tops had 3 inch wide or wider shoulder straps. One slight change came for the men this year as well; they could now wear untucked casual shirts.

The most recent update to this policy came in 2012 when Disney announced they would allow men to have beards and goatees. But don’t start growing one thinking you will be auditioning for one of the seven dwarfs, like the mustache your beard can only be a quarter of an inch and it must be fully grown in.

Rules over the years have come and gone, but many of the original items are still there. I like the Disney look and am glad Walt put the standards in place, as with any product you want to know what you are getting and with Disney you always know the look and quality you will receive.

If you want to see if you fit the Disney Look check out the latest rules on their career website.