This development dovetailed nicely with the evolution of the belief in the distinctive individual with personal rights. I’ve since reflected a bit on Ford’s discussion about tailoring, a technological advance that emphasized the “individual morphology of the wearer”. It’s intriguing social commentary that’s expansively researched and fascinating, but at times it was too minutely detailed for me. You’re as likely to read a quote from philosopher as you are an excerpt of a court case.
Along the way he examines many of the legal, economic, and cultural factors that have influenced how people strove to adorn themselves…. Dress Codes is the result of that personal query.įord takes readers on a mostly chronological survey of fashion. He wondered if that had always the case and decided to investigate. In his opinion, the legal system has not adequately recognized that “Fashion is tied to the ideal of individuality, individual authenticity, individual rights”( 1).
Ford believes today’s laws aren’t being written to address its importance in matters such as race or sexual discrimination. As a legal scholar and professor, he was dismayed with the increasing number of legal disputes concerning contemporary dress codes that, in his opinion, trivialized fashion as an important mode of personal expression. Even nudists have a stance on dress codes, albeit an ironic one.įord asserts that “Fashion is a wearable language”. And, in his book, Ford offers examples throughout history to explain how and why different social and cultural groups–from nuns and flappers to runaway enslaved persons, students, and Silicon Valley tech whizzes–have used fashion to upset expectations, challenge perceptions and prescribed societal roles, and establish new fashion ideals. Others have been codified by society, with potentially crushing personal repercussions if disregarded. Some dress codes have been dictated by monarchs and politicians, enforceable by law. (Please note that the term “fashion” extends to personal grooming.) Ford argues that fashion has always been symbolically relevant, from a Renaissance cleric’s robe to a present-day hoodie.
Why? Dress codes, as defined by the author, are explicit rules that determine what fashion means, and when, how and by whom it may be worn. In his book Dress Codes: How the Laws of Fashion Made History, Richard Thompson Ford suggests I might have had little choice in the matter. Thankfully, I don’t live in the 1800s, when women’s garments were designed to restrict movement. My choice is based on comfort and cost, and a bit of vanity. Patterned shirts and dark pants, with and without stretchy waistbands. This month’s SDA Book Club is by our contributing author Vivien Zepf, who reviews Dress Codes.ĭress Codes: How the Laws of Fashion Made History by Richard Thompson FordĬolorful dresses with pockets. SDA Book Club: “Dress Codes” Reviewed by Vivien Zepf December 3, 2021
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