Dress codes are symbolic indications of different social ideas, including social class, cultural identity, attitude towards comfort, tradition and political or religious affiliations.
Europe
See also: Western dress codes, Sumptuary laws, and English medieval clothing
In seventh through the 9th centuries the European royalty and nobility used a dress code to differentiate themselves from other classes of people. All classes generally wore the same clothing, although distinctions among the social hierarchy began to become more noticeable through ornamented garments. Common pieces of clothing worn by peasants and the working class included plain tunics, cloaks, jackets, pants, and shoes. According to rank, embellishments adorned the collar of the tunic, waist or border. Examples of these decorations included, as James Planché states, “gold and silver chains and crosses, bracelets of gold, silver or ivory, golden and jeweled belts, strings of amber and other beads, rings, brooches, [and] buckles”.[2] The nobility tended to wear longer tunics than the lower social classes.[2]
While dress codes of modern-day Europeans are less strict, there are some exception. It is possible to ban certain types of clothing in the workplace, as exemplified by the European Court of Justice’s verdict that “a ban on Islamic headscarves at work can be lawful”. [3]
The Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast had a complex social hierarchy which consisted of slaves, commoners and nobles, with dress codes indicating these social distinctions. John R. Jewitt, an Englishman who wrote a memoir about his years as a captive of the Nuu-chah-nulth people in 1802-1805, describes how, after some time living there, Maquinna and the chiefs decided that he must now be “considered one of them, and conform to their customs”. Jewitt resented the imposition of this dress code, finding the loose untailored garments very cold, and attributed to them a subsequent illness of which he almost died. He was not allowed to cut his hair, and had to paint his face and body as a Nootka would.[4]
Gender
Two men dressed in traditional Scottish wear.
Different cultures lead to different cultural norms as to what a man and a woman should wear. For example, in Indonesia, both men and women wear the sarong, a length of cloth wrapped to form a tube. The wrapper, a rectangular cloth tied at the waist, is worn by both sexes in parts of West Africa. The Scottish kilt, still worn at many social gatherings to establish a social and cultural identity, represents the height of masculinity.[5]
Social status[edit]
In many societies, particular clothing may be a status symbol, reserved or affordable to people of high rank. For example, in Ancient Rome only senators were permitted to wear garments dyed with Tyrian purple; and, in traditional Hawaiian society, only high-ranking chiefs could wear feather cloaks and palaoa or carved whale teeth. In China before the establishment of the republic, only the emperor could wear yellow.[citation needed][dubious – discuss]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dress_code
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