Dress codes : how the laws of fashion made history / Richard Thompson Ford.

Book

Ford, Richard T. (Richard Thompson), author.

First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition.

New York : Simon & Schuster, 2021.

xi, 443 pages, 16 unnumbered leaves of unnumbered plates : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm

A law professor and cultural critic offers an exploration of the laws of fashion throughout history, from the middle ages to the present day, examining the canons, mores and customs of clothing rules that we often take for granted.

Clothing and dress -- Social aspects -- History.

Fashion -- History.

Clothing and dress -- Law and legislation -- History.

Sumptuary laws -- History.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [415]-420) and index.

Historical milestones and important dress codes -- Introduction -- Status symbols. Encoding status ; Self-fashioning ; Signs of faith ; Sex symbols -- From opulence to elegance. The great masculine renunciation ; Style and status ; Sex and simplicity ; The "rational dress" movement ; Flapper feminism -- Power dressing. Slaves to fashion? ; From rags to resistance ; Sagging and subordination -- Politics and personality. How to dress like a woman ; Recoding gender ; Piercing the veil -- Retailored expectations. Merit badges ; Artifice and appropriation -- Conclusion: Decoding dress codes -- Epilogue: Dress codes stripped bare.

9781501180064 (hardcover)

1501180061 (hardcover)

1236208756

3815553

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