Richard Thompson FordDress Codes: How the Laws of Fashion Made History

This is an entertaining and thorough examination of dress, body, and hair throughout the centuries . the evolution seems logical but maybe not . it does make me wonder what comes next . what Will we all be wearing 50 years from now? what sort of hairdos? Thanks for this book Richard Ford.

Top read! I really appreciate how much time and research went into this. I ended up looking up the word "sartorial" pretty quickly because it is used a bunch. :) A very, very interesting read. I learned a lot that I didn't know, about menswear especially. I particularly appreciated the author's ability to put words to a lot of social subtleties regarding norms of clothing and dress that are difficult to verbalize or even realize consciously at times. This really helped me clarify some of my own thoughts about clothing and social expectations. I would love to see more books like this, since the nuances of clothing and people's responses to it is such a broad topic, and a more important one than most people realize it is, as the author so articulately and convincingly observes. Excellent read!!

I love the content of this book. Checked out twice from library and it is chock full of interesting observations. It is fascinating-- However, the paperback edition that was delivered to me had NONE of the 8 pages of colored image plates, which are heavily and amusingly referenced in the text. If you love the book-- but the Hardcover with the color plates. Returning and repurchasing -- Anyway-- a fabulous read, I just couldn't get enough of this.

We used this for our class. It’s a great book and really explains a lot about the history of fashion starting from the 1300s or earlier up to the modern day.

I've just started this book and already know I'll finish it quickly. It's smart, insightful, and Richard's language is easy and engaging. My one caveat is that I have already run into four parenthetical phrases that read: (Insert, Image #__). The phrases are in bold and seem to suggest a draft that called for images that were never placed in the text but appear instead in separate collections of color plates. Again, an incredibly small issue and I blame the folks at Simon & Schuster for letting this mixup get to print. Richard's excellent book deserved a better proofreader.

This was a very interesting history of fashion and how it has shaped our society. I learned a lot about how fashion is used to control people and restrict what they can do. I also learned that fashion is freedom and how people truly express themselves. Definitely recommend this book for anyone interested in history and self-expression

I purchased for hubby who was in the clothing business. I thought there would be more pictures. It was almost entirely text. Back it went.

What a great book! Wonderful content and story telling. Ford shows the how important fashion is to being human.I can’t wait for the musical!

I really enjoyed this book it talked about the power of clothing throughout history on a polical, economial and social level.

An extremely well-written and researched book, although the author’s preconceived notions detract from it at times. “Well-dressed”? Who dictates what is well-dressed? Fashion companies often change what is “fashionable” with the aim of selling more clothes than people need with the resultant environmental damage. Why does a suit “project competence” and not surrender to the standards of some unknown entity? As I Veblen postulated,, suit jackets, blazers or whatever denoted in the past that you are not a laborer, i.e., earn more money than them and have a higher social standing. While this may no longer be the case, since such clothes have been affordable for many (unfortunately due to the sweat shops and labor camps producing them), Mr. Ford takes it for granted that suits denote “well-dressed.”As Mr. Ford correctly states, some fashions are started by individuals or groups wearing their own style. And he notes that the fashion industry only realizes this afterward and then starts marketing copies of this. I am reminded of the torn jeans that we wore in the 1960s as a protest against consumerism. Madison Avenue soon realized that there was a market for this and starting selling jeans with tears at prices higher than those without.Mr. Ford wrote that Zuckerberg worn a suit when testifying before Congress as a sign of respect. But it was much more than that. His wearing a suit reaffirmed the feeling in those questioning him that they wore the proper attire, their style was the right thing, that they were not just a bunch of fuddy-duddies. It was an antidote to their insecurity. Of course, this is not just limited to clothes; people often want others to like the same books, movies, vacation spots, etc. as they do to give them the feeling that they have the right tastes.Mr. Ford denotes considerable time discussing the hair styles of Black Americans, but there is no mention of that of White Americans. Why and how has short hair become the norm for men and not women in the USA? I also missed references to “colorism” in fashion. Spike Lee dealt with “colorism” among Black Americans in his film “School Daze”. East Asians often have the same kind of prejudice and consider pale while skin to be beautiful. Darker skin is associated with farmers, who work outside, and consequently are poorer. White Europeans and Americans have an opposite opinion, since a good tan means that you have time for outdoor activities and vacations.However, it is a great book that I highly recommend for anyone interested in wondering why we dress as we do and how fashion developed.

This feels like a collection of MA thesis (thesises? theses?) put together. Not in itself a bad thing but means quite a lot of repetition (albeit from different angles) of the various laws and implications. It was what I wanted and I found it very useful.