Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
A revelatory exploration of fashion through the ages that asks what our clothing reveals about ourselves and our society. For as long as we've worn clothing, we've had rules about what to wear and when to wear it. As fashion became more sophisticated at the end of the middle ages, the rules got more elaborate: in Tudor England, there were dozens of laws against dressing above one's station; during the Renaissance, laws in scores of countries, cities, and towns assigned attire according to social rank, occupation, age, sex, marital status, and religion.
These dress codes have continued to evolve to reflect the social and political ideals of the day. As the rules that set the fashions of aristocracy faded, emerging canons of elegance and propriety made the full skirts of the Victorian era and the business suit mandatory; later, form-fitting flapper skirts and voluminous zoot suits became targets of moral and legal censure. Today, many workplaces ban braids and dreadlocks, long fingernails, large earrings, facial hair, and tattoos, and require suits and ties, make-up, and high heels. On the other hand, tech CEOs wear t-shirts and flip flops and some venture capitalists refuse to invest in a company run by someone wearing a suit. Whether written rules requiring conservative attire or the unspoken expectation of casual wear, dress codes still determine what we wear, when we wear it--and what it means.
In Dress Codes, law professor and cultural critic Richard Thompson Ford presents an insightful and entertaining history of the laws of fashion from the middle ages to the present day, a walk down history's red carpet to uncover and examine the canons, mores, and customs of clothing--rules that we often take for granted.
Synopsis
A revelatory exploration of fashion through the ages that asks what our clothing reveals about ourselves and our society. Dress codes are as old as clothing itself. For centuries, clothing has been a wearable status symbol; fashion, a weapon in struggles for social change and dress codes, a way to maintain political control. Merchants dressed like princes and butchers' wives in gem-encrusted crowns were public enemies in societies structured by social hierarchy and defined by spectacle. In Tudor England, the common people were forbidden to wear silk, velvet, or fur and ballooning pants called "trunk hose" were considered a menace to good order. The Florentine patriarch Cosimo de Medici captured the power of fashion and dress codes when he remarked, "One can make a gentleman from two yards of red cloth." Dress codes evolved along with the social and political ideals of the day, but they always reflected struggles for power and status. In the 1700s, South Carolina's "Negro Act" made it illegal for Black people to dress "above their condition." In the twentieth century, the bobbed hair and form-fitting dresses worn by liberated flappers were banned in workplaces throughout the United States and the baggy zoot suits favored by Black and Latino men caused riots in cities from coast to coast.
Even in today's more informal world, dress codes still determine what we wear, when we wear it--and what it all means. Workplaces ban braided hair and dreadlocks, long fingernails, large earrings, facial hair, and tattoos or require suits and ties, make-up, and high heels. And even when there are no written rules, implicit dress codes still influence opportunities and social mobility. Silicon Valley CEOs wear t-shirts and flip flops, setting the tone for an entire industry: women wearing fashionable dresses or high heels face ridicule and some venture capitalists refuse to invest in any company run by someone wearing a suit.
In Dress Codes, law professor and cultural critic Richard Thompson Ford presents an insightful and entertaining history of the laws of fashion from the middle ages to the present day, a walk down history's red carpet to uncover and examine the canons, mores, and customs of clothing--rules that we often take for granted. After reading Dress Codes, you'll never think of fashion as superficial--and getting dressed will never be the same.
Synopsis
A "sharp and entertaining" (The Wall Street Journal) exploration of fashion through the ages that asks what our clothing reveals about ourselves and our society. Dress codes are as old as clothing itself. For centuries, clothing has been a wearable status symbol; fashion, a weapon in struggles for social change; and dress codes, a way to maintain political control. Merchants dressing like princes and butchers' wives wearing gem-encrusted crowns were public enemies in medieval societies structured by social hierarchy and defined by spectacle. In Tudor England, silk, velvet, and fur were reserved for the nobility, and ballooning pants called "trunk hose" could be considered a menace to good order. The Renaissance-era Florentine patriarch Cosimo de Medici captured the power of fashion and dress codes when he remarked, "One can make a gentleman from two yards of red cloth." Dress codes evolved along with the social and political ideals of the day, but they always reflected struggles for power and status. In the 1700s, South Carolina's "Negro Act" made it illegal for Black people to dress "above their condition." In the 1920s, the bobbed hair and form-fitting dresses worn by free-spirited flappers were banned in workplaces throughout the United States, and in the 1940s, the baggy zoot suits favored by Black and Latino men caused riots in cities from coast to coast.
Even in today's more informal world, dress codes still determine what we wear, when we wear it--and what our clothing means. People lose their jobs for wearing braided hair, long fingernails, large earrings, beards, and tattoos or refusing to wear a suit and tie or make-up and high heels. In some cities, wearing sagging pants is a crime. And even when there are no written rules, implicit dress codes still influence opportunities and social mobility. Silicon Valley CEOs wear t-shirts and flip-flops, setting the tone for an entire industry: women wearing fashionable dresses or high heels face ridicule in the tech world, and some venture capitalists refuse to invest in any company run by someone wearing a suit.
In Dress Codes, law professor and cultural critic Richard Thompson Ford presents a "deeply informative and entertaining" (The New York Times Book Review) history of the laws of fashion from the middle ages to the present day, a walk down history's red carpet to uncover and examine the canons, mores, and customs of clothing--rules that we often take for granted. After reading Dress Codes, you'll never think of fashion as superficial again--and getting dressed will never be the same.