Discrimination used to hang in my closet in the form of three Abercrombie & Fitch sweatshirts. But there’s no room for that in my wardrobe anymore.

Blown up images of ivory skin and sun-bleached hair adorn the storefront and panel the walls within. In this way, A&F makes very clear for whom their products are intended.

The discrimination suits filed against the company this year alone shows that people are getting the message.

A Sept. 23 column in TIME Magazine detailed the case of 19-year-old Samantha Elauf, who is suing the company.

Elauf claims that she was denied employment because she wears a Muslim headscarf, known as a hijab.

Riam Dean, who worked at the flagship store in London, filed a suit against the company in June of this year. According to a June 24 article by Liam Berkowitz for ABC News Money, Dean was asked to buy a cardigan to cover up her prosthetic arm.

When store management allegedly felt that wearing the sweater violated the company’s “Look Policy,” she was made to work in the back stockroom.

Federal law requires companies to practice Equal Opportunity employment. But some of Abercrombie & Fitch’s practices seem to treat employees as if they are “separate but equal.”

All signs point to the company’s “Look Policy,” part of the Associate Handbook, which dictates how employees should present themselves.

In a June 25 article, The Telegraph published some of the policy’s standards.

Both male and female associates are to have a “clean, natural, classic hairstyle.” Women specifically are to wear makeup that “enhances natural features.”

There is nothing wrong with wanting a fresh, natural look.

But what say do you have in the “natural look” of a prosthetic substitute when you’re born without a limb like Riam Dean?

Or what if someone’s “natural, classic hairstyle” is concealed beneath a religious headdress like Samantha Elauf’s?

To gain a better understanding of the actual policies, I inquired at the Arden Fair Mall store about getting a copy of the Associate Handbook.

I was told to clear it with Human Resources, then was given a toll-free phone number to call.

One call to that number turned into countless failed attempts at navigating through menu after automated menu.

Determined to speak with a real person, I called the Arden store again to ask a manager about the policies.

In just a brief conversation, I learned firsthand just how difficult it would be to get a little cooperation.

“I really don’t care to take time to answer questions about my company being sued and blah, blah blah,” the manager said.

And yes, you read that correctly. The manager’s actual words included “blah, blah blah.”

Others are not so hasty to dodge this issue. Some patrons of the store are not amused.

“There can be a dress code, but when they bring religion into it, it’s wrong,” said Sana Khan, pre-optometry student and senior psychology major.

Though she has shopped at the store in the past, she feels that Abercrombie’s policies are in need of serious change.

Elauf’s case struck a chord with Khan, who herself is a follower of the Islamic faith.

“If someone was wearing a cross necklace, would they make them take it off?” she said.

We have come a long way from the segregation that plagued the United States before. But the “it’s not a big deal” mentality keeps discriminatory practices alive.

For me, even just walking into the store as a chubby Asian girl feels like I am jumping into a tank of hungry piranhas while wearing a steak suit.

Associates are either tan, buff guys or girls half my size, watching me with eyes that wonder if I got lost on the way to the food court.

The perfect airbrushed faces that stare down from the walls say, “Silly girl, Abercrombie & Fitch is not for you.”

And you know what? The feeling is mutual.

I’m not for Abercrombie & Fitch, either.

VIDEO: Samantha also went around campus to ask students about their favorite study spots. Click here to see the video.

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