In case you haven’t heard, Imane Boudlal, a 26-year-old Disneyland restaurant employee has filed a complaint against Disney for religious discrimination. {LA Times}

The problem stems from the fact that Boudlal wants to wear a hijab – a scarf covering the hair and neck that some Muslim women choose to wear, while working. When hired, Boudlal did not wear the hijab, but later made the decision to wear it.

Disneyland, which has a long history of strict dress codes for employees, often called “cast members,” has offered Boudlal a position “backstage,” where costumes and uniforms aren’t as restrictive, and later a costume which had been modified to be more conservative. The costume included a higher neckline shirt, and a hat to cover her hair.

Disney spokeswoman Suzi Brown explains:

“We met with Ms. Boudlal on Saturday and presented her with several options. She asked that the costume be altered. Those alterations were made and a modified costume was presented to her that meets our costuming guidelines and which we believe provides an accommodation of her religious beliefs. We also provided four different roles that she could transition to that would allow her to wear her own hijab. She has twice chosen to reject all of the options that we’ve presented.” {LA Weekly}

Boudal responded that “the hat makes a joke of me and my religion, and draws even more attention to me. Itâ€s unacceptable. They donâ€t want me to look Muslim. They just donâ€t want the head covering to look like a hijab.” {Styleite}

Perhaps they don’t, but when is the last time an on the clock Disney employee “looked” Jewish (perhaps through wearing a yarmulke) or “looked” Sikh (perhaps through wearing a turban) when it wasn’t part of the uniform? Considering the fact that publicly facing Disney theme park workers often have to wear uniforms that fit into a certain theme, and it’s a clear condition of employment, we’ll give this one to Disney.

Don’t get us wrong, we’re all for Boudlal’s right to wear the hijab in her personal life and day to day activities off the job, but Disney has clearly tried to accommodate her preferences while keeping the theme of their restaurant consistent. That theme doesn’t include the type of head covering that Boudlal would like to wear, but that doesn’t make it discriminatory or offensive.

As a matter of style, is the hat silly looking? Sure, but so are many of the other uniforms employees are expected to wear. Employees who may be Muslim, Jewish, Christian, or Buddhist, but for all intents and purposes are simply seen as Disney employees by the millions of guests who visit each year.

Playdom, the company behind Sorority Life, Social City and Treetopia among many others, was officially acquired today by Disney for $563.2 million, with the potential for another $200 million based on performance. {Mashable} Though that might sound like a lot of real money for virtual goods, the company raised $33 million just a month ago at a valuation of $345 million. {TechCrunch}

“We see strong growth potential in bringing together Playdomâ€s talented team and capabilities with our great creative properties, people and world-renowned brands like Disney, ABC, ESPN and Marvel.” – Robert A. Iger, President and CEO, The Walt Disney Company.

While MySpace is the network that no one remembers now, it was actually key to the company’s success. After failing on Facebook on their first go-round, Playdom built a user base on MySpace, then came back to Facebook to pick up 37 million active users – putting it squarely in line with top social game developers like Zynga. {GamesBeat}

Well played!

Disney's Beautiful Villains: Ursula (top left), Cruella de Vil (top right), Maleficent (bottom)

MAC announced it took inspiration from four Disney devils for its Venomous Villains collection, and that is just about all they are revealing about the line to debut late this September in all MAC locations. {WWD}

Lipstick, lip gloss, powder and blushes priced between $12 and $29.50 will be featured in this limited edition set, so weâ€re thinking the pink complexion of the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland may have inspired blushes to appear alongside products thought of with the more obvious muse, Cruella De Vil (weâ€ll be shocked if sheâ€s not one of MACâ€s evil motivators).

Styleite is predicting Cruella red lipstick, but does anyone remember the scene in The Little Mermaid where Ursuala the malicious octopus applies red lipstick with a clam shell? Weâ€re hoping for a cool, Ursula-inspired clam shell compact with bright red shades. Judging by the power pouts on Disney’s evil leading ladies, some serious rouge shades are probably a safe bet.

And what else might we get? Since the villainous stare seem to come down to those extremely arched eyebrows, we’d love to see brow pencils, wax or other grooming tools make it into the collection alongside smokey mauve shadows to create the kind of gaze that can instill fear in puppies, mermaids and sleeping beauties.

Disney has been popping up all over the fashion scene lately. Disney Couture recently launched a Little Mermaid-inspired jewelry line, and collaborations to promote Spring 2010’s Alice in Wonderland included a ring design partnership with H. Stern and costume jewelry made by Stella McCartney and inspired by Alice. {Stylelist}

In addition, the April issue of Spanish Elle featured Karl Lagerfeld, John Galliano, Marc Jacobs, John Paul Gaultier, Dolce & Gabbana, Donnatella Versace and other fashion elite in cartoon, Disney-inspired form. Donnatella Versace appears in the likeness of Daisy Duck with Karl Lagerfeld channeling Goofy, while Alber Elbaz, also in Disney duck form, admires a red dress created for Minnie Mouse. {The Fashion Spot}

We bet the element of magic and fantasy is what draws fashion and Disney together. Whatever the common denominator, anything that encourages people to have fun with makeup is a winner in our book!

Read the full story {New York Times}