Dress codes : how the laws of fashion made history

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Part one : Status Symbols -- Part two : From Opulence to Elegance -- Part three : Power Dressing -- Part four : Politics and Personality -- Part five: Retailored Expectations.

Historical milestones and important dress codes -- Part one: Status symbols. Encoding status: concerning the excessive display of trunk hose, crowns, ruffled collars, velvet and crimson silk -- Self-fashioning: regarding togas, gowns, robes, and tailored clothing -- Signs of faith: on the matter of dresses with indulgently long trains, earrings and other vanities, and on the habits of women religious--inspired by Christian Dior -- Sex symbols: on the subject of plate armor and associated undergarments, masks, and costumes -- Part two: from opulence to elegance. The great masculine renunciation: on the frock coat, tartan, and kilt, civilian uniforms, and powdered wigs, both large and modest -- Style and status: the importance of the well-dressed man's basic black suit and the elegant woman's eight daily toilettes; the prevalence of silk and velvet waistcoats and the art of the perfectly tied cravat -- Sex and simplicity: the merits of tailored coats, whaleboned corsets, full skirts and petticoats, and neoclassical gowns -- The "rational dress" movement: the inconveniences of bloomers, tight-laced corsets, starched collared shirts, and suits with short trousers -- Flapper feminism: the scandal of drop-waisted shifts, bobbed hair, cupid's bow lips, dancing flats, Bakelite earrings, and the Symington side lacer -- Part three: Power dressing. Slaves to fashion? The allure and danger of dressing above one's condition in pumps with silver buckles, a hat cocked in the macaroni fashion, or a Jack Johnson plaid suit -- From rags to resistance: seen on the scene: Zoot suits, cotillion gowns, pressed hair, and Sunday best; afros and overalls, dashikis, black turtlenecks, and black leather coats -- Sagging and subordination: represent the race! Don't wear sagging pants, gang colors, hoodie sweatshirts, or decorative orthodontic devices (aka Grillz) -- Part four: Politics and personality. How to dress like a woman: Your personal best: teased, curled, or styled hair; lipstick, foundation, eyeliner, blush, bunny ears, and satin maillot, high heels. Overdoing it: bared clavicles, yoga pants, miniskirts, "smart" jeans. In re. ladies in the law: skirts, nylons, makeup, nothing low-cut, a feminized morning suit -- Recoding gender: clothing not belonging to your sex: prom night tuxedoes, blue (or pink) for boys, pink (or blue) for girls, miniskirts, tutus, and tailored suits -- Piercing the veil: Outlawed as indecent or condemned as sacrilegious: headscarves, burkas, burkinis, bikinis, sexy sheitels, hip hijabs, and Covergirl makeup -- Part five: retailored expectations. Merit badges: appropriate for the workplace: red-soled Louboutins, a 21 Club tie, a blue blazer, the preppy look, red sneakers, a Patagonia vest, a gray or black T-shirt. Inappropriate: designer dresses, high heels, suits -- Artifice and appropriation: outfits for cultural tourism: bleached blonde hair, dreadlocks, hoop earrings, a cheongsam, a pink polo, an abacost, European luxury tailoring -- Conclusion: decoding dress codes -- Epilogue: dress codes stripped bare

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.