She's Got the Look!

Wow! New posts two days in a row. You guys are gonna get spoiled.

For anyone who doesn't know about the "Disney Look" guidelines, please: do yourself a favor and check them out. Unless you grew up Amish, chances are your style is not conservative enough for Disney. (Actually, Amish men still aren't conservative enough. Too much facial hair.)

Some highlights of the guidelines:

• Intentional body alteration or modification for the purpose of achieving a visible, physical effect that disfigures, deforms or similarly detracts from a professional image is prohibited. Examples include, but are not limited to, visible tattoos, brands, body piercing (other than traditional ear piercing for women), tongue piercing or splitting, tooth filing, earlobe expansion, and acquiring visible, disfiguring skin implants.
• Due to close contact with guests and fellow Cast Members, the use of an anti-perspirant or deodorant is required.
• Fingernails should be kept clean. If polish is used, it should be complementary to your skin tone. This includes deeper, richer shades of polish. Polishes that are not permitted include extremely bold or bright colors such as coral, hot pink, true red, neon, multicolor, gold or silver tones...Fingernails should not exceed one-fourth of an inch (approximately 6 mm) beyond the fingertip.

The guidelines also include rules about hair coloring, glasses, contacts, makeup application, and one of my personal favorite rules: facial hair. That's right: if you want to work for Disney, you better be willing to part with the ol' soup strainer.

One of my favorite things about the Disney Look is that, up until 2000, Walt Disney didn't even meet the guidelines. That's right: if Walt Disney himself applied to work at one of his own theme parks, he wouldn't have passed muster. I guess someone finally noticed this little discrepancy, though, because the guidelines were updated 9 years ago to allow mustaches, making them the only acceptable facial hair for Cast Members.

Above: Walt Disney sporting a very nice 'stache.

I have two concerns about the Disney Look and me. Here's my first concern, and also my deep dark secret. Promise not to tell? I have colored contacts. Yes, that's right. My gorgeous green eyes are fakes. The guidelines specifically mention that colored contacts are acceptable, if, "the resulting eye color [is] natural looking and appropriate to your skin tone." Which mine are...99% of the time. But every now and then, when the sunlight hits them just right, my eyes look a color that I like to affectionately call "glowstick green". It's a little startling. So there is the possiblity that I could get down there with a four-month supply of contacts, only to be told that I couldn't wear them, just because a manager happened to pass me just as the sun came out from behind a cloud. I just need to decide if that's a risk I'm willing to take.

My other concern is less of a concern, especially after last night. I have had a small nose ring for almost two years now. I was going to keep it at least until the end of this semester, but the rhinestone fell out of my last stud, and I really didn't want to go buy another one knowing that i would have to take it out in a few months. So, bye-bye, nostril bling!

So now I'm almost completely in compliance with the Disney Look guidelines. And with only four months to go, I guess that tooth filing, tongue splitting, and branding I wanted to do and that full beard I wanted to grow will just have to wait until next January.