Members of President López Obrador’s legal counsel need to be careful what they put on display: no tattoos or piercings can be shown, and no opinions about the president can be posted on social media, according to a set of rules obtained by the newspaper Reforma. 

The six-page document, titled Dress Code and Coexistence in the Office, was allegedly sent by the president’s top legal counsel, Estela Ríos. 

However, her office denied having sent the document and said the Code of Ethics that governs the behavior of its members is available online. The president’s office said it had launched an internal investigation to determine its origin.

In the document published by Reforma, the section “Clothing outside the code” lists shoes without socks, t-shirts and earrings as poor etiquette for men. For women, crop tops — shirts that don’t cover the midriff, strapless tops, miniskirts and leggings are all banned. Faded or ripped jeans, piercings, and visible tattoos are against the rules for both sexes.

The document states that a suit and tie are expected for men and a tailored suit should be worn by women. It features models wearing designer suits, scarves and bags to offer an example of “business casual” dress, which is only appropriate for Fridays. 

Rules on dress could be relaxed for pregnancy, travel, illness, disability, extreme weather and special days or events.

As for behavior, volume on headphones should be kept low and odorous foods like seafood, onion and garlic should not be consumed. On social media, employees were told to avoid making political comments, not to take photos of famous visitors to the National Palace, and not to publish photographs of areas of the palace where public doesn’t have access. 

Ríos took over as top legal counsel on September 2 after Julio Scherer Ibarra left the post.  

With reports from Reforma