Dress Codes: How the Laws of Fashion Made History

by Richard Thompson Ford

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.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Fashion, Art, Sociology, Fashion History, Audiobook

464 pages, Paperback

First published February 9, 2021

About the author

Richard Thompson Ford is the George E. Osborne Professor of Law at Stanford Law School. He has pub­lished regularly on the topics of civil rights, constitutional law, race rela­tions, and antidiscrimination law. He is a regular contributor to Slate and has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, and the San Francisco Chronicle. He is the author of Racial Culture: A Critique, The Race Card and Rights Gone Wrong.

Reviews

[Mara · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars - This is a great example of social history that uses a seemingly ordinary topic (in this case, clothing) to unpack cultural history. Cultural objects are key to understanding how and why people act throughout history, and this is a wonderful example of this genre, showing how fashion has been reflected in various laws over the last ~2000 years, and why legal systems responded to these cultural forces in the way they did. Ford particularly ruminates on the relationship of gender and fashion, but he also addresses how fashion relates to class, race, and individualism. Overall, very thought provoking and well written

[Emma Deplores Goodreads Censorship]

I’m having bad luck with nonfiction right now. I read through page 86 of this one, and despite knowing little about fashion history, didn’t feel like I was actually learning much from it. The repetition is next level—Ford tells you what he’s going to tell you, then tells it to you a few times in slightly different words, then wraps up by telling you what he’s told you. It also felt a bit like taking one of those courses where the professor is so focused on conveying the themes and big picture of the field of study that you learn very few details, and the themes are often pretty obvious: here, that clothing isn’t just a frivolous pursuit but communicates level of wealth, social group membership, gender and sexual availability, personality, etc. Also, the book appears to be exclusively focused on the usual historical subjects of western Europe and the U.S. However, it’s possible those more interested in fashion history than me might get more out of it—or that I might get more out of it at another time, who knows.

[Sophia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish; this book was terrible. It could have been fascinating: the topic is interesting and relevant, but the writing is bad and it’s six times longer than it has to be. He explains a concept, gives four anecdotes illustrating it, explains each anecdote, then summarizes the concept by reexplaining the anecdotes. It’s repetitive and monotonous. I tried skipping around a bit, hoping it would get better, but it doesn’t. Wish this were good; if it were a long form magazine or newspaper article I’d be interested to read it, but the length is simply preposterous.

[David V. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Received as an ARC from the publisher. Started 1-20-21. Finished 2-4-21. Scholarly, well-written and very readable world history told via clothing etiquette rules; from togas to business suits, from hoop skirts to miniskirts, from silk stockings for men to silk stockings for women, and bikinis to burkinis, and everything in between. A history book for the fashion-conscious and fashion for the historian. A unique study of the world. I won't ever look at old paintings of people in the same way again---I'll be examining their clothing first. Many of the dress codes in history, even recent times, are hilarious when thoroughly studied, but the people who made them were totally serious. You also learn about some codes that are still hold-outs from previous times such as lawyers presenting cases before our US Supreme Court. Well worth the read.

[Angeline Walsh · Rating 2 out of 5]

The amount of times this author used the words “sartorial,” “sumptuous,” and “indeed” is ungodly. Someone get this man an editor, please!

[Finley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did you know that the soles of Louboutin's are red? You will get to hear it about 20 random times throughout this book.
In painfully long and dry detail you will learn about the incredible depth to many dress codes that affect those of the modern day. I was destined to not like this because I would personally not find reading 470 pages about dress codes to be interesting, but I had to for school-- by the way Louboutin shoes have red soles! Anyway, after taking many notes to bring to class discussion for this book, I still don't feel like it made me any more knowledgable or interested in the subject matter (our class discussion was also cancelled, which didn't help haha). As someone with an interest in fashion, however, I think there are far more interesting books to pick up. Louboutins-- have red soles :)
If you don't have prior extensive knowledge on the details of garments this will be especially difficult to get through since there are barely any photos-- not to mention the lack of them contributes to it failing to hold my attention much of the time. I also found it incredibly unhelpful that the few times cultural dress codes and garments were mentioned there were no photos of them, yet we somehow needed a photo of Donald Trump in order to understand what a poorly tied necktie looks like. This could have been a dress code dictionary style book with bullet points and photos and it would have been far more educational than the redundant, 20 page rambling sessions about single garments. The occasional author anecdotes, while actually entertaining, felt randomly interjected. If you didn't know yet, Louboutin's have red soles.
One aspect that made this slightly better was how recent it came out-- it's certainly up to date. If you actually take an interest in learning about dress codes perhaps this could be more like 3 stars, but if you're not heavily invested in fashion history and the title itself, don't bother. While I feel harsh in rating this so low, I feel there are probably much more interesting ways to learn about dress codes. Guess what shoe has red soles! Louboutins.

[Lena · Rating 4 out of 5]

The subtitle of this book promises a lot, and I was intruiged by the idea that there was a link between dress codes and history. Ford does a great job at showing how the way we've clothed ourselves throughout time correlated with major societal changes and was often the first sign of revolution and rebellion.

Post pandemic, it may seem like dress codes are a thing of the past. While that is true in many cases, fashion remains a language we all speak but don't always understand.

I learned a lot while reading this book, whether it was about tailoring advances that created the option of dramatically distinct clothing for different genders, the history of the Zoot suit (with the corresponding realization that Zoot-suit wearing villans in my childhood cartoons were reinforcing a racist stereotype) and the subtle and not so subtle messages that our current, more egalatarian wardrobe options telegraph.

I'm not very interested in fashion with a capital F, but I thoroughly enjoyed this examination of fashion as a tool both of historical change and individual expression.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just want to note that a lot of the people giving this book demerits perplexingly are doing so because they seemed to have had preconceived notions about what the contents were. If you are ever in need of clarification on this point, please feel free to read the inside of the dust jacket first, and stop taking out your misunderstanding on the material itself.

That said, I very much enjoyed this book. It gave a wonderful breakdown on what makes fashion, something so often dismissed as frivolous and superficial, impactful on both a macro scale and micro scale. I would highly recommend it to anyone the least bit interested in fashion history and/or law.

5/5

[Reading · Rating 2 out of 5]

There should be some sort of penalty for any author that takes a fascinating subject and proceeds to make it boring AF

[June · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fashion temporally decoded,
a broader history noted.
The book follows a "dress" code
of scholarly exploration,
with causation and summation,
in narration, a la mode:
Eloquence showed,
ode to suit, others may dispute;
Elegance unbowed, I salute.
messages enthuse, images amuse.
I favor the humanistic sphere chosen,
I savor the linguistic clear and potent,

[Dylan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting read! The history of dress codes isn't just about clothing, but parallels the histories of racism, sexuality, sexism and much more. It was very interesting to discover the interconnectedness of seemingly unrelated trends and developments, such as how the cut of Edward VIII's trousers indirectly caused race riots in the US, or how postcolonial thought gave rise to the 'Sapeur'.
It's a shame, however, that some long debunked myths were reiterated, such as the public outcry and riots caused by the appearance of the first top hat or the framing of the corset as a torture device, which caused me to doubt the other facts in the book. I also do not subscribe to the notion of the necktie as a phallic symbol, since ties were originally worn with waistcoats and only later developed into their modern shape. An insert with images was frequently mentioned, but unfortunately not included in my copy.
All in all quite interesting!

[Paige · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded up

Fascinating. Well written and researched. A tad denser than most pop nonfiction, but I didn’t mind.

The author incorporated his personal experience sparingly but effectively.

The section on appropriation felt like an afterthought. Like something his editor told him to add, but a concept he dismissed out of hand.

I appreciated that there was only limited discussion of what dress codes “should” be. A page or two only, mostly focused on things like the CROWN act. He didn’t act like he knew all the answers; just that he knew the history.

CW: detailed descriptions of racist and homo/transphobic attacks; multiple discussions of rape

[Mike Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

For most of my professional life, I have been subject to dress codes. I wore a variety of military uniforms for over a decade, and since then, I've been required to wear a jacket and tie and, later, "business casual". I once worked for a company that, in the early '90s, held a seminar for employees on how to dress in the office. In this book, civil rights lawyer and cultural critic Richard Thompson Ford sets out to explore the history of dress codes and the "laws of fashion", what they mean, and what they say about those who impose them, follow them, or break them.

Ford argues that "fashion" began in the 14th century when Europeans began to move away from the draped garments (such as togas, robes, and cloaks, which are still worn ceremonially by clergy, academics, and lawyers) they had been wearing for over a millennium and began to adopt more tailored clothing, with sleeves and legs and fitted more precisely to each wearer's figure. He asserts that clothing is a form of communication, and that what it communicates is "status, sex, power, and personality." Ford explores each of these themes through five major parts.

Part one addresses clothing as a status symbol. He looks at how certain styles or types of garment indicated the wearer's position, occupation, or role in society. In what becomes a recurring theme in the book, as clothing technology advances and as new materials are developed, however, it becomes easier and more affordable for people to adorn themselves with the high-status clothing once reserved for the elite. In doing so, people inevitably assign new meanings to the language of fashion.

As a result of sumptuous fabrics, or close facsimiles, becoming more widely available, the elite, in part two of the book, shift "from opulence to elegance" in a phase Ford calls the "Great Masculine Renunciation". Men's clothing was once as ornate as women's, with adornments and frills. After the Great Masculine Renunciation of about 1760 to 1790, however, men's clothing became much more sober and refined. Women's clothing remained showier for centuries longer. Men demonstrated their power and wealth through clothing that required exacting skill to create and to wear properly. Only those who were "in the know" could put together and wear these ensembles correctly.

Part three is mainly about the differences in clothing between white and Black Americans, from the days of slavery to the late 20th century. He describes the many laws that prohibited Blacks from "dressing above one's condition" and how Black activists used clothing to demonstrate respectability and demand respect during the early Civil Rights era or later to challenge white supremacy and to assert their African heritage and pride. Ford's lawyerly side is most evident here as the narrative becomes very specific to the American civil rights movement.

In part four, Ford examines the politics of fashion, particularly gender roles as represented by clothing and the act of cross-dressing. He spends time on the many contradictory rules and dress codes that affect women, and he looks at why women have had to dress like men to be taken seriously. He also takes a look at the Western reaction to increasing displays of other forms of dress, particularly Muslim dress.

Finally, Ford tackles modern fashion and the exclusivity of high-fashion labels and trademarks in part five. This includes a survey of the topic of "cultural appropriation", the wearing of clothing traditionally associated with a culture or race other than your own. Only here in the final chapters does Ford look at some fashion trends outside of Europe and America, and then mainly in the context of how other countries repurpose Western styles for their own cultures. Ford suggests that in today's world, we use fashion to express ourselves in ways we couldn't before, when dress codes were more restrictive.

Ford's writing is fairly formal and is occasionally repetitive in form and content. For instance, he uses the phrases "for instance" and "for example" a lot. He hammers home his themes more than he needs to to get his points across. Still, it's clear that he's researched his topic extensively and thought deeply on it.

I'm not someone who pays much attention to clothes, whether on me or on anyone else. I do cling to my military training and ensure that my clothes are clean and pressed and worn neatly, but I also wear them for many years, until they're coming apart and have to be replaced. This book has made me realize that, no matter what I think, my clothes say something about me to other people. And those other people may pick their clothes for reasons other than their being next in line in the closet. Ford may overstate the significance of our clothing choices and the many ways we follow or subvert the dress codes we're subject to, but it's an interesting topic and this book opened my eyes to a form of communication that I'd largely been ignoring.

[Susan Liston · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is probably deserving of more than three stars, it's readable and is about exactly what it says; but as I was reading it I realized I pretty much knew all this stuff. I've read a lot about the history of fashion and once it gets into the 60s I remember it all, so I didn't get a whole lot out of it. But for someone less familiar, I would definitely recommend it.

[Hanna Auer · Rating 5 out of 5]

no notes 5/5

[Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great ideas 👍👍👍👍👍

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

A male U.S. lawyer and law professor wrote this account of how fashion has affected history, as well as how laws have affected fashion, often as an effort to control society.

The author acknowledges his own interest in fashion: He once entered and placed well in a contest by either GQ or Esquire magazine (I’m too lazy to look it up) to identify men with the best fashion sense. Not coincidentally, the author also eventually mentions his dad was a tailor who made sure his son took care with his wardrobe for important occasions when he went off to college.

Ford applied his legal analysis to his personal interest to come up with this interesting volume. (I did detect a note of either the academic or the legalist in his precise writing style, which involved a lot of recapitulating.)

The book starts with the “clothes as draping” era in Roman and medieval times, then moves into the more modern “clothes as tailored to the wearer’s station in life” ages that have occurred since.

It follows a chronological timeline, mostly. But toward the end it takes a more topical approach.

I did wonder if the author gathered all his illuminating citations and historical examples on his own, or had a capable grad student or clerk to do that for him.

Obscure origins are revealed (e.g., the modern high heel shoe derived from the footgear of Persian cavalry).

Unintended consequences are covered (e.g., crinoline underskirts were lightweight, giving freedom of motion to the wearer; but the skirts’ volume did lead to deaths by fire when they swept against the open flame of a candle, stove or hearth).

Irony in fashion is highlighted. When Jewish women in old Italy were forced to pierce their ears to identify their religious status, who knew that later generations of Gentile royals would take up earrings as a form of conspicuous consumption?

Likewise, little could French male aristocrats of the 1700s know that their “power player” outfitting - wigs, silk stockings and high heeled shoes - would lay the groundwork for today’s flamboyant drag queens.

Joan of Arc is fingered as the first famous cross dresser. The author points out that Mark Zuckerberg’s casual T-shirts and hoodies have become almost a uniform for some contemporary entrepreneurs, while guys who need a bit more formality in business attire can don the midtown-Manhattan male uniform of slacks, oxford-cloth shirt and Patagonia-brand fleece vest.

This book is a thorough study and a fun read, although a bit formal in diction. (Skeptic that I am, I also wondered if the clever wordplay in some of the chapter titles and sub-headings came from the author or astute editors.)

[Patty · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nonfiction book about the history of fashion, particularly as it relates to the legal system – sumptuary laws, supreme court cases about office dress codes, race riots over zoot suits, etc. The book attempts to cover Western Europe and the US from about 1300 (Ford argues that this is when fashion really began, as it's when clothes started to be tailored more closely to the body. Which is not how I would define the beginning of fashion, but whatever. Sure. Honestly it already feels like 700 years was way too much to cover in the space of this book, so I guess I'm grateful he didn't go for 50,000 or something) to today.

Ford is a lawyer, not a historian or a dress expert, and I felt like this really showed throughout the book. He's intelligent and curious and well-written, but it's very obvious that this isn't a topic he's spent more than a year or two on. If you've read any dress history before, you're probably already familiar with most of the topics he covers. If you're brand-new to the field, this would be a fine introduction, but I don't know how many people are in the situation of being interested in dress history but never having read even a shallow listicle on it. Ford also has a weird habit that might be from writing legal briefs – he structures each chapter so that he tells you his thesis statement, gives some examples, and then restates the thesis statement, sometimes in the exact same words. It comes off as very repetitive and patronizing, in a book otherwise written for knowledgable adults.

Overall, it's... it's fine. There's nothing exactly wrong with it, but there's a lot of more specific or more detailed books that cover the same topics.

[Tracie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book a lot, but it took me forever to read it. At times I thought it was a bit repetitive - a little less about the Sumptuary laws and the Great Masculine Renunciation would have been nice. I did enjoy the history of clothing and how class was shown through clothing. Also thought it was interesting how much luxury brands control the numbers of their items, in order to keep the demand high. The difference between tailors and seamstresses made me more aware of how so much of clothing history is related to men, and their control of manufacturing processes.

[Leo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shortly after it being available on my book app I've seen reviews of it and I was so excited to read it so I dropped everything to start reading it and im absolutely not regretting it. This starts way back in history and goes through to modern times telling of the times shaped clothing and how clothing changing society.how it's both been used to fit in and make a point with standing out. Very well written and engaging. Highly recommend it if you like history and fashion

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought the subject was fascinating, and could tell that this was a real passion project for the author. My only difficulty was that it was long, and could perhaps have been shortened by not having a recapping concluding paragraph for every point that was made. But overall enjoyable!

[Megan Mac · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did enjoy the first third a lot more than the rest of the book (but that more reflects my interest in those historical time periods explored in those first several chapters than it does the author). Lots of interesting facts about fashion and history, just felt too long and I dragged through the last half - even with interesting things sprinkled throughout. I think this would have made a more interesting coffee table book in my opinion. I wanted WAY more pictures of all the fashion items and trends mentioned with fun facts written among the photos. But I understand the purpose of the book was much more about research and having fashion being a subject of study.

[Madeline]

I’m calling it. It’s a DFN. Honestly, I don’t think I am academic enough to follow this as well as I had hoped. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Rebecca Brown]

I LOVED this book. Part history of sumptuary laws, part anthropological investigation of fashion and style. I learned something new and incredibly cool on each page!

[Kama · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was going to be a lighter, fluffier book because I had no idea that the author is a Stanford law professor [who also happens to be Black]. Anyway, this is a fascinating journey through the political, gender/sex and racial history of fashion. It is thoroughly researched and made a lot of connections that I wouldn't have thought about myself. Highly recommend!

[Mandy Szewczuk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating subject matter, and the anecdotes and historical information were sound and intriguing. The only drawback for me was the repetition of the ideas for each chapter; they were presented at the beginning as an introduction, then throughout as exploration, then restated at the end of the chapter, which really made that feel like a book report. Tighter editing would have really solidified this!

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

After hearing the author discuss his book in a panel presentation with two other law professors, I was intrigued. This is a fascinating book that discusses the meaning of clothing across time, gender and class. It's a slog, because there is so much detail, but I found it worth the effort. Ford presents fascinating information as well as a wealth of observation about the meaning of clothing. Much to think about. For someone like me, who loves the fiber arts, the book offered yet another perspective on textiles and their use.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ultimate thesis of this book is there's no way to opt out of the fashion game - even announcing that you don't care about clothes (looking at you Mark Zuckerberg) is making a statement with your appearance. Throughout the book, Ford takes us through the evolving history of how people used dress to make statements about themselves and others. It's very thought-provoking, and I learned a lot about the history of men's fashion in particular. If you've ever wondered why men's fashion is so boring compared to women's, this book will answer it for you. In fact, I thought this book shines the brightest when talking about men's fashion and the intersection between fashion and the US Black civil rights movements, in no small part because of the personal touch Ford brings to those two topics. Other sections feel much more cursory and I think some editing would have made this book tighter. For example, there's a section about nuns at the beginning that's pretty just okay. Overall, I'd love a more in depth discussion of changes in women's fashion in the 20th century, but that's my personal interest. I think this book was trying to cover too much to be able to get in depth on all topics. Overall though, I would recommend it. Interesting, easy to read, and includes helpful pictures.

[Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating, well-written, and well-thought-out book on the history of fashion in (mostly western) culture and politics. It covers the long history of sumptuary laws, uniforms, and, of course, dress codes, while also emphasizing how personal fashion can be to the individual.

Topics include well-dressed social revolutions, appearance-minded subcultures, religious garb, clothing as a tool of prejudice and segregation, and the legality of modern workplace dress codes.

Definitely a good read if you'd like to learn more about how fashion and law/politics intersect.

[Kahlia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone knows how much written and unwritten rules about fashion influence our lives… but Thompson Ford has an unnerving habit of laying it out in a way that makes you realise how much sexism/racism/classism really plays out in this area. Definitely a book for pondering.

(For those mostly interested in historical dress - aka me - I will note that this book tends more to 20th century fashion with limited focus on anything less modern. Guess I’ll need to find another book for that).