“Didn’t Even Know Hooters Had a Maternity Uniform” — Pregnant Hooters Server Shares Uniform Update

Hooters began its life as a franchise with a simple premise. Create a male-centric sports bar atmosphere with a name that serves as a jocular objectification of women's bodies.

It's a premise that has served the franchise well, at least for a while. As of this writing, the brand currently sports some 300 locations.

However, they may not be around for long, as Food Republic reports the business could be in danger of filing for bankruptcy. There could be several reasons for this, one being different widespread social attitudes toward frequenting a business whose primary model is hiring female servers with large busts.

Given that this was the original philosophy behind Hooters' inception, one probably doesn't associate maternity specific uniforms with the establishment. After all, it's not like a bunch of patrons head to Hooters to leer at servers in the hopes that their waitress is pregnant.

But a Hooters server by the name of Gabrielle (@gabrielleharlan) recently went viral showing off the get up in a recent post.

She posted several updates on her pregnancy on her TikTok account. However, the aforementioned one received a whopping 6.8 million views. In it, Gabrielle records herself standing at work inside of a Hooters location.

Additionally, she writes about the nature of her post in a text overlay of her video: "32 weeks. Everyone was so mad when I said I finally fit the maternity uniform at 23 weeks."

It appears that she's referring to another post she made previously in regards to her maternity progress.

At the onset of the video, she states:

"OK I'm gonna do a little bump update. Because I'm eight months now. So, I'm 32 weeks," she says, before stepping away from the camera to show off what her belly looks like at this stage of her pregnancy.

Next, she turns to the side to show off the profile view before walking back up to the camera. She then speaks directly into the lens: "and I actually fit the uniform now."

In the other post before this, she also recorded herself while at work in the black t-shirt, penning: "Finally big enough to wear the maternity uniform."

Folks who saw the first post were stunned that the chain even had an outfit especially designed for servers who are pregnant. "I honestly never knew that Hooters has a maternity uniform," one said.

Another applauded the chain for providing an option for employees. "Is it like a more modest uniform? This is so cute! Hooters is cool asf for this."

While someone else thought that perhaps she would end up getting more money from customers for working while pregnant. They wrote: "Have you started to receive extra tips?"

At the time, Gabrielle said that she didn't, but was sure that she would when her bump was bigger.

However, there were others who thought the outfit was a bit too skimpy for an expecting mother to wear while on the job. "That's so small for a maternity uniform," they said.

In her more recent post updating viewers on the status of her pregnancy, it seemed that there were commenters who confirmed that being pregnant sparked generosity from guests. "I worked as a bikini barista when I was pregnant. Girl, the amount of money I made was UNGODLY," one said.

Another expressed their wish for the chain to revamp the design to feature a baby owl next to the big one that has become synonymous with the chain as its official mascot. "Bruh if they made the maternity shirts with a little owl beside the big one, I’d cry."

One user on the application who stated that they previously worked at Hooters was employed at a time when nearly all of the servers were pregnant simultaneously. "I used to work at Hooters’. Six of us got pregnant around the same time. We used to tell the non-pregnant ones not to drink the water. Congratulations!"

As for spikes in gratuity, Gabrielle confirmed in a response to another user on the app that they indeed increased as a result of her being pregnant. The other TikTok commenter asked: "Does being pregnant affect your tips at all?"

To which the server replied: "Yes they are a lot higher!"