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Dress code

Clothing is an aspect of human physical appearance, and like other aspects of human physical appearance it has social significance. All societies have dress codes, most of which are unwritten but understood by most members of the society. The dress code has built in rules or signals indicating the message being given by a person's clothing and how it is worn. This message may include indications of the person's social class, income, occupation, ethnic and religious affiliation, attitude, marital status, sexual availability and sexual orientation. Clothes convey other social messages including the stating or claiming personal or cultural identity, the establishing, maintaining, or defying social group norms, and appreciating comfort and functionality.

For example, wearing expensive clothes can communicate wealth, the image of wealth, or cheaper access to quality clothing. All factors apply inversely to the wearing of inexpensive clothing and similar goods.The observer sees the resultant, expensive clothes, but may incorrectly perceive the extent to which these factors apply to the person observed. (cf. conspicuous consumption). Clothing can convey a social message, even if none is intended.

If the receiver's code of interpretation differs from the sender's code of communication, misinterpretation follows. In every culture, current fashion governs the manner of consciously constructing, assembling, and wearing clothing to convey a social message. The rate of change of fashion varies, and so modifies the style in wearing clothes and its accessories within months or days, especially in small social groups or in communications media-influenced modern societies. More extensive changes, requiring more time, money, and effort to effect, may span generations. When fashion changes, the messages communicated by clothing change.

History

Europe

In the Middle Ages the European nobility used a dress code to differentiate themselves from the other classes.

The Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast had a complex social structure, including slaves, commoners, and nobles, and dress codes to indicate these social distinctions. John R. Jewitt, an Englishman who wrote a memoir about his years as a captive of the Nootka people in 1802-1805, describes how, after some time living there, Maquina 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.

Signifier

Gender

Various traditions suggests that certain items of clothing intrinsically suit different gender roles. In particular, the wearing of skirts and trousers has given rise to common phrases expressing implied restrictions in use and disapproval of offending behaviour. For example, ancient Greeks often considered the wearing of trousers by Persian men as a sign of effeminacy.

Social status

In many societies, people of high rank reserve special items of clothing or decoration for themselves as symbols of their social status. In ancient times, only Roman senators could wear garments dyed with Tyrian purple; only high-ranking Hawaiian 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. In many cases throughout history, there have been elaborate systems of sumptuary laws regulating who could wear what. In other societies (including most modern societies), no laws prohibit lower-status people from wearing high-status garments, but the high cost of status garments effectively limits purchase and display. In current Western society, only the rich can afford haute couture. The threat of social ostracism may also limit garment choice.

Occupation

Military, police, and firefighters usually wear uniforms, as do workers in many industries. School children often wear school uniforms, while college and university students sometimes wear academic dress. Members of religious orders may wear uniforms known as habits. Sometimes a single item of clothing or a single accessory can declare one's occupation or rank within a profession

Ethnic and political affiliation

In many regions of the world, national costumes and styles in clothing and ornament declare membership in a certain village, caste, religion, etc. A Scotsman declares his clan with his tartan. A French peasant woman identified her village with her cap or coif.

Clothes can also proclaim dissent from cultural norms and mainstream beliefs, as well as personal independence. In 19th-century Europe, artists and writers lived la vie de Bohème and dressed to shock: George Sand in men's clothing, female emancipationists in bloomers, male artists in velvet waistcoats and gaudy neckcloths. Bohemians, beatniks, hippies, Goths, Punks and Skinheads have continued the (countercultural) tradition in the 20th-century West. Now that haute couture plagiarizes street fashion within a year or so, street fashion may have lost some of its power to shock, but it still motivates millions trying to look hip and cool.

Religious affiliation

A Sikh may display his religious affiliation by wearing a turban and other traditional clothing. Many Muslim women wear head or body covering (see Sartorial hijab, hijab, burqa or bourqa, chador and abaya) that proclaims their status as respectable women. A Jewish man may indicate his observance of Judaism by wearing a yarmulke.

Marital status

Traditionally, Hindu women wear sindoor, a red powder, in the parting of their hair to indicate their married status; if widowed, they abandon sindoor and jewelry and wear simple white clothing. However this is not true of all Hindu women; in the modern world this is not a norm and women without sindoor may not necessarily be unmarried.

Men and women of the Western world may wear wedding rings to indicate their marital status.

Sexual display

Modern western culture recognizes cues such as (in women) extreme stiletto heels, close-fitting and body-revealing black or red clothing, exaggerated make-up, flashy jewelry and perfume, as sexual display outside daytime social norms for dressing, being too sexual. In parallel, a man wearing a tightly-cut shirt, unbuttoned to his sternum, or tight trousers, would be recognized as dressing too sexually for day wear.

Sexual display has its place in culture, however. In some cases, differences across gender in interpretation of sexual display can give rise to victimization of the subordinate gender. In modern American culture, sexual display among college women, for example, is part of a complex social climate wherein females compete for male attention, while males vie for sex with females. This contradiction in intent - women intending to attract attention and men intending to have sex - is one of the many factors (along with gender socialization, campus policies, and other issues) which give rise to acquaintance rape or "party rape"

The apparent contradiction in behavior and intent exists elsewhere. For example, a Saudi Arabian woman may wear an abaya to proclaim her respectability, but choose an abaya of luxurious material cut close to the body and then accessorize with high heels and a fashionable purse. All the details proclaim sexual desirability, despite the ostensible message of respectability.

Some research has indicated that women's clothing choices are influenced by menstrual phase. Among normally cycling women (i.e., those not on hormonal contraception and with intact uterus and ovaries), revealing clothes are more common at the periovulatory phase of the cycle, while less revealing clothing is more common perimenstrually.(.) Evolutionary psychologists have speculated that this may be related to signaling of fertility to males. Many biological mechanisms exist to disguise fertility and almost none exist to reveal it; therefore the selection of revealing clothing to display fertility runs counter to our biology.

Sexual orientation

Clothing can also be used as a public signal of sexual orientation.

Gay pride-themed clothing or decorations, including symbols such as the rainbow flag, or the logo of the Human Rights Campaign, are fairly obvious choices for someone wishing to indicate that they are not straight. However, heterosexual gay rights supporters may also choose to display such symbols as a political statement, which leads to some possibility for ambiguity.

T-shirts with printed slogans or icons have also become somewhat popular for use in casual social situations, and are offered for sale at many LGBT-oriented clothing stores. They often include witty sexual innuendo, comical expressions of affection for people of a particular gender, or non-sexual use of gay slang.

Sometimes people make fashion choices for or against a particular look based on whether or not it "looks gay" (depending on what type of signal they wish to send). Stereotypically "gay" fashion choices include dressing against prevailing gender norms (for example, a trucker's hat for a lesbian, or a pink shirt for a gay man), and for gay men, looking "fashionable" or well-kept. While some people do exploit these stereotypes, many people either ignore them in their fashion choices, intentionally avoid them, or are unaware of them. General erosion of traditional gender norms (see for example, metrosexual) and the ambiguity and changing standards of fashion contributes to the unreliability of determining a person's sexual orientation based on these stereotypes, and some people would consider it offensive to try. Members of some local LGBT communities do seem to try to differentiate themselves as a group, but the particulars vary by location, and can be difficult to detect (especially given integration with the surrounding culture).

Clothing can also be used to express interest in a particular sexual activity or role. One trend in the 2000s is a line of T-shirts that has iconic 1950-style depictions of the baseball positions pitcher and catcher, which are intended to correspond to the top and bottom sexual positions. An older example is the handkerchief code used in the BDSM subculture.

Laws and social norms

In Tonga it is illegal for men to appear in public without a shirt.

In New Guinea and Vanuatu there are areas where it is customary for the men to wear nothing but penis sheaths in public - this is uncommon in more developed areas. Women wear string skirts. In remote areas of Bali, women may go topless. In India, Hindu contemporary daily dress like saris tend to often show bare stomachs in preference over bare legs.

In the island of Bermuda there is a strict dress code, such that restaurants are designated with different dress-code levels such as "business casual" or "casual." It is also illegal to not wear a shirt or shoes on any of the public places on the island with the exception of the beach.

Private dress codes

Dress codes may be enforced by private entities, usually imposing a particular requirement for entry into a private space. "Dress code" may also refer to a social norm.

By religious law or tradition
For employees, pupils/students, etc. - sometimes a uniform; sometimes depending on the day, see Casual Friday; see also International standard business attire
For customers, e.g. for a disco, nightclub, casino, shop or restaurant
In special parties; sometimes a specific costume is requested
Fetish clubs often require patrons to dress in fetish clothing
As social rules in general

Dress codes function on certain social occasions and for certain jobs. A school or a military institution may require specified uniforms; if it allows the wearing of plain clothes it may place restrictions on their use. A bouncer of a disco or nightclub may judge visitors' clothing and refuse entrance to those not clad according to specified or intuited requirements.

Some dress codes specify that tattoos have to be covered.

A "formal" or white tie dress code typically means tail-coats for men and full-length evening dresses for women. "Semi-formal" has a much less precise definition but typically means an evening jacket and tie for men (known as black tie) and a dress for women. "Business casual" typically means not wearing jeans or track suits, but wearing instead collared shirts, and more country trousers (not black, but more relaxed, including things such as corduroy). "Casual" typically just means clothing for the torso, legs and shoes. "Wedding Casual" defines yet another mode of dress, where guests dress respectfully, but not necessarily fancily. Basically, no jeans and T-shirts.

Transparent or semi-transparent clothing can play with the boundaries of dress-codes regarding modesty.

Dress codes usually set forth a lower bound on body covering. However, sometimes it can specify the opposite, for example, in UK gay jargon, dress code, means people who dress in a militaristic manner. Dress code nights in nightclubs, and elsewhere, are deemed to specifically target people who have militaristic fetishes (e.g. leather/skinhead men).

Work place

White collar work place clothing has changed through the years. In a corporate office, appropriate clothes are clean, formal clothes such as a shirt, necktie, and suit, or other similar outfits. Previous business dress code eras (the 1950s in the U.S.) featured standardised business clothes that strongly differentiated what was acceptable and unacceptable for men and women to wear while working. Today, the two styles have merged; women's work clothes expanded to include the suit (and its variants) in addition to the usual dresses, skirts, and blouses; men's clothes have expanded to include garments and bright colours.

Casual wear entered corporate culture with the advent of the Silicon Valley, California, technology company featuring informal work clothes on the job. Additionally, some companies set aside days — generally Fridays ("dress-down Friday", "casual Friday") — when workers may wear informal clothes. The clothing a company requires its worker to wear on the job varies with the occupation and profession. Generally, low-level workers who do not directly work with the clients are allowed to dress informally, e.g. the information technology (IT) technicians and the interns. Professionals and other high status workers are still expected to wear plain patterned or pinstripe suits in navy, charcoal or grey with a tie.

Some businesses observe that anti-discrimination law restricts their determining what is appropriate and inappropriate workplace clothing. Yet, in fact, most businesses have much authority in determining and establishing what work place clothes they can require of their workers. Generally, a carefully drafted dress code applied consistently does not violate anti-discrimination laws.

Business casual

Business casual dress, also "smart casual", is a popular work place dress code that emerged in white-collar workplaces in Western countries in the 1990s, especially in the United States. Many information technology businesses in Silicon Valley were early adopters of this dress code. In contrast to formal business wear such as suits and neckties (the international standard business attire), the business casual dress code has no generally-accepted definition; its interpretation differs widely among organizations and is often a cause of sartorial confusion among workers.

The job search engine Monster.com offers this definition: In general, business casual means dressing professionally, looking relaxed, yet neat and pulled together. A more pragmatic definition is that business casual dress is the mid ground between formal business clothes and street clothes. Examples of clothing combinations considered appropriate for work by businesses that consider themselves as using the business-casual dress code are:

for men: a shirt with a collar (tennis shirt) and cotton trousers, "khakis": in American
for women: a tennis shirt and trousers

Generally, neckties are excluded from business casual dress, unless worn in untraditional ways. The acceptability of blue jeans and denim cloth clothing varies — some businesses disallow them as sloppy, not casual, yet tolerate men wearing blue jeans with a sports coat.

Inverse dress codes

Inverse dress codes, sometimes referred to as "undress code", set forth an upper bound, rather than a lower bound, on body covering. An example of an undress code, is the one commonly enforced in modern communal bathing facilities. For example, in Schwaben Quellen no clothing of any kind is allowed. Other less strict undress codes are common in public pools, especially indoor pools, in which shoes and shirts are not allowed.

Places where social nudity is practiced may be "clothing optional", or nudity may be compulsory, with exceptions, see issues in social nudity.

Violation of clothing taboos

Some clothing faux pas may occur intentionally for reasons of fashion or personal preference. For example, people may wear intentionally oversized clothing. For instance, the teenage boys of rap duo Kris Kross of the early 1990s wore all of their clothes backwards and extremely baggy.

A trend in underwear has moved toward underwear that looks less like underwear, e.g. undergarments that look like bathing suits or beach shorts. For women, deliberately showing bra straps has also been fashionable.

Reversalism in the sociology of clothing

Social attitudes to clothing have brought about various rules and social conventions, such as keeping the body covered, and not showing underwear in public. The backlash against these social norms has become a traditional form of rebellion.

Messages of clothing

Masculinity: Trousers, ties, belts, broad shoulders, rough or heavy fabrics, outdoor clothing
Femininity: Skirts, low necklines, defined waists, delicate fabrics
Sexual maturity: Tight clothing, transparent or shiny fabrics, high heels
Immaturity: Shapeless, loose clothes, dungarees, childish prints or patterns, bright colors, flat shoes
Dominance: Uniforms, uncomfortable fabrics, oversized shoulders, dark colors, leather, metal buttons, large hats and accessories
Submissiveness: Impractical fabrics and frills, pale colors, decorative shoes
Intelligence: Reading glasses, blue or dark stockings, sombre colors, briefcase
Conformity: Dull, chain-store clothing, pressed creases, low-key colors
Rebellion: Extreme clothing and hairstyles, tattoos, piercing, unusual shoes or no shoes at all
Occupation: Uniforms, suits, wearing of tools and trade accessories
Origin: Indicated by town or country clothes or regional dress
Wealth: Gold jewellery and gems, clean or new clothes, perfect fit, identifiable fashion labels, dramatic color, fur, perfume
Health: Casual or sporty clothing and logos, body-revealing cut, slim figure, trainers(sneakers)
Age: Adherence to past styles