When 21-year-old Bella Woodard first saw a viral TikTok video in which a restaurant server described how she doubled her tips by wearing pigtails, she was skeptical.
But, when the nursing student at East Tennessee State University tried wearing the hairstyle at her own serving job, she quickly saw results. One male customer alone tipped her $135.
“It’s weird and gross, but I’m down for more tips, so it doesn’t matter,” Woodard said in her own TikTok. “Wear pigtails to work. I’m bound to be doing this every day.”
Pigtails are hardly the only detail that makes customers more generous with tipping.
Female restaurant workers from across the country told The Post they have noticed an increase in tips when talking with a Southern accent, dyeing their hair blond, wearing their hair down, applying plenty of shiny lip gloss, having their nails manicured and strutting around in booty or biker shorts.
Such anecdotal evidence dovetails with extensive academic findings. Professor William Michael Lynn from Cornell’s School of Hotel Administration has researched tipping for years and has outlined 20 techniques that servers can employ to rake in more cash. They include wearing something unusual; complimenting a customer’s food choices; writing “thank you” or drawing a picture on the check; squatting down next to the table or standing physically close to a customer; and smiling.
Lynn hasn’t explored pigtails in his research, but the hairstyle’s effectiveness doesn’t surprise him.
“I believe that if it makes the waitress look younger … it increases her sexual appeal,” he told The Post. “That’s probably why it increases tips.”
Not surprisingly, Lynn said, “a number of studies find that attractive women get better tips than less attractive women.” In his own research, he’s also found that customers tend to favor women who wear makeup.
Some women in the restaurant industry have mixed feelings about the tipping dynamic and how it relates to their appearance.
“It’s definitely stressful at times,” Victoria Wallace, a 28-year-old who has been waiting tables in Atlanta for a decade, told The Post.
Over the years, the pretty brunette has perfected what she refers to as her “just enough, but not so much” strategy — the perfect amount of makeup, skin showing and smiling and flirting just so, without seeming to be trying too hard or making anyone at the table uncomfortable.
“The goal is to make both sexes wanna take you home, or go get a beer with you,” she said. Her approach tends to work, though she dreams of a different work scenario.
“I wish I could roll out of bed and show up a hot mess,” Wallace added.