A woman who was denied entry into a Government building in Trinidad and Tobago because of her sleeveless dress has become a viral sensation for her solution to meet the dress code.
Allison Skinner-Bacchus, a caterer, was able to gain entry into the Treasury Building in downtown Port-of-Spain after donning a curtain over her sleeveless dress.
Skinner-Bacchus, who hails from Arouca, went viral on social media when a friend posted the story and a photo of her with a pink curtain draped over her black and white dress.
“I came to the bank and a security officer, who was very pleasant, said I couldn’t come in with my arms exposed. She pointed out the stipulations as to what obtained on entry and I said okay and walked back to my car that was parked on the other street,” she told Loop News.
Skinner-Bacchus said upon reaching the car, she spotted the curtain and had a lightbulb moment.
“I see this curtain watching me fix in my face and I say come here, we going. I extra so I could have done it like a lil scarf, but I shake open the whole curtain and drape it like a superhero and went in, the security was in stitches,” she recalled.
Skinner-Bacchus said when she left the building she stopped a random stranger and asked them to take a photo of her posing in her curtain throw over. She sent the photo to a friend who posted it on Facebook.
“It was never intended to be nothing like this,” she said, noting that people found her actions very funny.
A caterer by profession, she said she always has a curtain or a piece of cloth in her car to cover food or stack them to prevent things from moving while she was driving.
Stating that she hadn’t been to the Treasury Building in years, she said she only went to cash a Government cheque that she could not deposit at her credit union.
She said while as a caterer she has dress codes she must adhere to, she does not understand why she cannot bare her arms in a Government office.
“I think it is archaic and I do not know what is the vulgarity or offense about a woman’s arm. I am into rules and I understand as a caterer there is certain attire not acceptable in my business but to do a certain transaction why can’t I show my bare arms?”