Walt Disney, and those who ran his theme parks for him, wanted a clean, wholesome American image from his guest facing hosts: one that his guests could relate to.

When the Magic Kingdom first opened at Walt Disney World, there were some very stringent requirements for those cast members. You weren’t hired to work “on-stage” if you wore glasses, did not fit into the weight and body shape limited costume sizes or had a visible disability. Those rules were, thankfully, abolished over time—for legal, staffing needs and common sense reasons—but many restrictions still remained.

• Closed toed dress shoes were required (no sneakers)
• Facial hair was not allowed (no mustaches, goatees or beards)
• Water bottles were not allowed on stage
• One ring per hand was the limit
• Women had specific hair coloring, makeup and earring requirements

The rules were aggressively applied. When, for example, I worked as an attractions lead (IE-ride location foreman) at EPCOT CENTER, we would routinely send cast members home for not adhering to that Disney Look:  even if it meant paying someone else overtime to fill the position.

But that was then. In the 1990s, the company began allowing its cast members to wear their costumes home. The results were predictable: Star Tours hosts shopping at Wal-Mart, Haunted Mansion hosts pumping gas into their cars and Security hosts picking up groceries at the local supermarket.

Where the old culture was one that hid all the backstage elements, the new culture was willing to save money by reducing the stringent standards. Nowadays, you see hosts wearing sneakers, males with mustaches and beards and females with hoop earrings and faded/wrinkled costumes.

Disney announced this past week that the Disney Look is being relaxed once again. The relaxation is likely a necessity, given the continuous relaxation of clothing and grooming expectations within the United States, the absolute need to treat all applicants equally and the lack of available hires due to full employment.

You can pine about the way things used to be (and I sometimes do) but you have to meet your customers where they are. That’s what Walt did. The goal of his dress code was to relate to his guests. Those connections are, after all, the real bottom line.