Uniform or underwear? Hooters of Louisiana won't adopt new shorts amid national backlash

After former and current Hooters employees criticized the new uniforms being implemented in some U.S. locations, Hooters of Louisiana said in a statement Wednesday that its franchises would not be moving away from the iconic uniform.

Over the last several weeks, Hooters employees have taken to social media to blast the new outfits, which were implemented by franchisor Hooters of America. The uniform included new shorts, which critics have said look more like underwear than shorts.

Hooters of America, which owns the restaurant's 420 locations in 42 states and 29 countries, has since said the new shorts were optional, Business Insider reported.

The Original Hooters Group, a separate company that owns 25 locations and uses similar branding, did not participate in the uniform change.

Hooters of Louisiana, which owns nine locations across Baton Rouge, Bossier City, Houma, Lafayette, New Orleans and Slidell, said it never considered changing its uniforms.

"The famous uniform has been worn in all Louisiana Hooters locations for the last 30 years and we gave no consideration to changing this uniform and there are no plans to change the uniform in the future," the company said in a statement.