Sumptuary "Laws" in Society

Though sumptuary laws are not generally realized today, they are in place under a guise that is socially acceptable. Dress codes are instated in schools, businesses, offices, and, essentially, in society.

Children are taught early on what types of dress are “appropriate” and the different ways in which they can make “bad” impressions based on their attire. Many schools even require uniforms, and the majority that do not have extremely strict standards of dress and firm rules regarding appearance. For example, most public schools do not allow “unnatural” hair colors, “short” shorts, “thin” straps on shirts, and other various “distractions” that are simply subjective. Because of the idiosyncratic nature of these rules, many schools (especially private schools) require uniforms that consist of what could be considered business attire. From something as simple as bland hair colors to something as extreme as coats and ties on a daily basis, public and private school systems tend to require well-pressed and presentable students in order to prepare them for societal standards of dress.

Even in public places like parks and restaurants and “casual” places like fast food restaurants, signs are displayed and rules are imposed that state, “shirts and shoes required”. Though this may seem like an obvious courtesy for fellow patrons and citizens, it only seems obvious because we have been taught that these things are necessary. These necessary gentilities are just dress codes we have been conditioned to oblige.

In offices, the standard attire is typically a coat and tie or suits and dresses. This “professional attire” is something that is ingrained in us from an early age. As Margaret Gaber relayed in her book Vested Interests, “kids carry themselves a little differently with a shirt and tie on” (Garber 23). This idea is imposed upon youths the moment they begin school, from the age of four or five, and it is carried on throughout their lives in order to “help people see themselves entering the working world” (Garber 23).

Though “respectable attire” is a standard that has evolved, it is an idea that has been perpetuated throughout the ages. Even in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, which was written in the fourteenth century, Queen Guinevere is described as having a canopy draped over her, surrounded by “rich metals and jewels” (part 1, line 79). The entrance of the Green Knight is described over the course of almost three pages, though it is not by his actions that he is initially described, but by his appearance. From the Green Knight’s “closely trimmed” tunic (part 1, line 153) to his “neat stockings” (part 1, line 157), his impressive apparel is what intimidates the knights of King Arthur’s court.

There is a perpetuated standard of “professional” dress and attire that has existed for centuries depending on the culture, and the standard will inevitably exist for years to come, albeit in varied forms. These standards are capricious and subjective and merely confine citizens to the limits built by society.

Works Cited:

Garber, Marjorie. Vested Interests. http://ereserves.jsu.edu/eres/ReedEH102dresscodes.pdf

Harrison, Keith. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Print.