Jun. 1--ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.--Cocktail waitresses at Harrah's Atlantic City will still be able to paint their fingernails red (as well as clear, white, pink, wine or burgundy). 

But beginning Monday, straight hair is out. Only curled, styled or teased will be acceptable. No ponytails or buns. No half up, half down. No braids, a restriction that has upset some African American waitresses. 

Earrings can be no bigger than a dime, down from a quarter. 

And heels are back -- the gambler focus groups have spoken. They told Harrah's that they wanted the women bringing them their free drinks in heels. Flat shoes, increasingly common among cocktail servers, many of whom are 20-year veterans in their 40s, will be forbidden without a doctor's note. 

As Harrah's introduces its first new uniforms in 10 years, management is cracking down on hairstyles, nail-polish colors, shoe styles and other "grooming standards" of its 125 cocktail waitresses in Atlantic City. 

"I think they want a cookie-cutter look," said Margie Seidman, business agent for Harrah's for Local 54 of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union, which has been negotiating for the waitresses. 

(Recent big victories: Red was added to the list of acceptable nail colors, and pants will remain part of the new black-and-gold uniforms. Hair negotiations, in which a dozen cocktail servers went one by one before their bosses to submit their hairstyles for approval, are continuing.) 

"What I was told is they don't want them to look like they've gotten off the beach, jumped in the shower, and come to work," said Seidman, a former cocktail waitress. "I just believe it's a little excessive. This seems to be the harshest in town." 

The new standards have created an uproar, even though managers agreed to put aside some of the more stringent restrictions in place at other Harrah's casinos -- including a requirement that women who give birth fit into their non-maternity uniforms within six months. 

In Harrah's nonunion properties, waitresses are photographed after being made up and styled to their "personal best" and must re-create that appearance each workday. In Atlantic City, the waitresses have been told that they face disciplinary action if they do not conform to the new standards. 

"They're upset," said one cocktail server, 31, working on the casino floor shortly after midnight yesterday. Like others interviewed, she asked that her name not be used for fear of placing her job in jeopardy. 

"Some supervisors were already telling girls, `Your hair is not acceptable,' " she said. "That kind of brings you down. I feel, how far have we come as women if we're still being made to look like a sex object?" 

The restrictions echo even stricter standards at most of Harrah's 21 other properties. So far, only one employee has been terminated because of the restrictions. The cocktail waitress refused to wear makeup at a casino in Reno, Nev., and declined a transfer to another position. 

The standards simply are the result of Harrah's trying to maintain dress and grooming standards at all its properties, said Gary Thompson, a spokesman for Harrah's, based in Las Vegas. 

"We're in the entertainment business," he said. "When people come to a Harrah's property, they're expecting an entertainment experience. Our typical customers are middle-aged Americans. They know what they want. Our goal is to provide that to them. 

"The customers like it. At every property where we've instituted standards, the tip income for beverage servers has increased. They just look clean and well-groomed." 

On Wednesday, at a gathering periodically held to set new schedules, waitresses were invited to appear before four male supervisors and a union representative to determine if some hairstyles would still be acceptable. 

Photos were taken of a sampling of the hairstyles so the union could continue negotiations with beverage manager Mike Boris, according to Harrah's and the union. 

For some, the experience only reinforced what waitresses consider to be a strange preoccupation with the details of their appearances. 

"It was really weird," said one waitress, with shoulder-length curly hair. "They were just sitting there looking at me. I'm like, `OK, am I supposed to do something?' " 

"They just said if you have long, straight hair, it's not acceptable," said another waitress, in her 20s, whose long, straight blond hair was within acceptable limits this week but will have to be changed next week (as will her chunky-heeled black shoes). 

"It's like prison," said another veteran waitress, in her 40s, although she said that perhaps some of the younger waitresses were getting a little far afield in their appearance. "Some were showing up with tattoos down their arm." 

Tattoos must be covered, beginning Monday. 

Susan Kotzen, a spokeswoman for Harrah's Atlantic City, said the cocktail waitresses were not the only ones to get new uniforms. The dealers' look recently was updated as well, she said, with no complaints. 

"There's no more bow ties, no vests any longer," she said. "It's upscale and elegant, with burgundy long-sleeve shirts and traditional black pants. It's a very classy uniform." 

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(c) 2001, The Philadelphia Inquirer. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. HET,