Woman shares the 'inappropriate outfit' she got dress coded for by the local librarian

People always criticize women for one thing or another. It does not matter how they dress, someone will be there to pass their judgment. A stay-at-home mom named Hilary Flips—who goes by @calmlychaoticmom on TikTok—also went through something similar after a trip to the library with her daughters turned to the librarian commenting on her outfit. "Pardon me while I continue to wear cropped tops with high-waisted pants until I'm a grandmother. Might even throw my bellybutton ring back in for extra flair," Flips captioned her post.

She did not expect this encounter with the librarian, who was not happy with the mom's choice of clothing in public. "I just got dress-coded at our local library at Baby Storytime," Flips shared while appearing on the video wearing the same outfit she had picked for her library visit. "So this is what I wore, a little cropped sweater situation," she said, displaying an adorable animal print grey sweater. "It's from like, the teenager section at Target. It's that like weird Wild Fable brand. Probably not age-appropriate, whatever. These jeans—they're Top Shop mom jeans. A thousand years old. They're called like the mom jeans and this is what I wore. And I thought why not a sweater? It's like, a step up from my usual sweatshirt, t-shirt, leggings, jeans situation. So, I was feeling good about myself."

However, she could not enjoy feeling good in her outfit for long. Flips then continued explaining how her young girls can get a bit chaotic during their library visits as they don't sit still or quiet down. So, when the librarian approached her after the story time session asking Flips if she was the "mom or the babysitter," Flips thought that the librarian was possibly going to remark on her kids' behavior. "She goes, 'You should know better' in like this judgy, tsk, tsk kind of tone. So I immediately started apologizing for my girl's behavior and I'm like, 'I'm so sorry, you know, it's really hard for them to sit still like we're working on it and like that's kind of why we come here,'" the mom recalled.

However, the librarian said something that Flips was not expecting to hear in a million years. "And she goes, 'No, your outfit' and I'm thinking, 'Oh my gosh, did I not button my sweater up? Like what's happening?' And she just motions towards it as I realize it's because the sweater is a little bit cropped and when I carry my giant one-year-old, it raises up and shows maybe like one inch of my belly with its cute little stretched-out belly button," Flips concludes. "And apparently, that's inappropriate to show any midriff when you're edging into 40 and newsflash, I disagree." Fellow TikTok users couldn't understand why the librarian commented on her outfit.

@priscilla.cg wrote, "I would try to talk to someone above her about it. Not her place to shame you about your outfit and you look cute and appropriate!" @fossilou commented, "The way I would have very loudly said- Oh, I didn't realize the library had a dress code!?! and draw attention to the whole situation." @kriscrops quipped, "I'd wear the same outfit next week!! You look amazing!!! Like others have said it says more about her than your choice of outfit!! Hugs! Keep being you!" @__eleanor__ remarked, "My mind is blown. I’ve worked in all kinds of libraries for almost 30 years. Never have I ever seen a library staffer call out a patron’s outfit and trust, we’ve seen more than a midriff. During the low-rise jeans phase, the jeans left nothing to the imagination. But a mid-drift? That's insane."

You can follow Hilary Flips (@calmlychaoticmom) on TikTok for more videos on motherhood and the SAHM lifestyle.

This article originally appeared 7 months ago.