Page 19 - Lamplight Magazine (1)

W he n a rule is p ut in p lac e, w e ough t t o c onsi de r the re ason s for it
and the p o w e r dynami cs tha t allo w it. Eve n whe n rule s se e m har mle ss –
or eve n positive – w e s hould i nve stiga t e w hy they are the re and whom
they bene fit. I me an, wha t c ould be wron g with a dre ss c ode, for
FUCK C lo th e s, though, are a n e xp re ss ion of a p e r s on' s p e r sonality, and t o
e xample? D on’t th ey just make us sa fer and more ap p rop r ia t e a t w or k?

cr itic ise wha t somebody is w earin g is t o say tha t they don't belon g
there . To p olic e wha t some body is w e arin g with a dre ss c ode is t o
sign al wha t is and is no t ac c e p table in microc osms of soc ie ty, an d I
ch alle ng e the re ason s w e re je c t c e rtain c lo th ing p ie c es and with them
THE their w earer s.
S ome of the mos t c ommon p arts of a dre ss c ode may see m reason -
able : no t w a n ting t o s ee somebody’s unde rw e ar p e ep ing out from above
their lo w-ri se j eans , for e xample, s eems f air, un til you c on sider th e
socio-e c onomic imp lic a tion s. S a g gin g p an ts can be tie d t o r aci al
DRESS t o mark the be gi nning of a tre nd, is oft e n p e rc e ive d t o be due t o th e
iden tity, c oming from Afric an-A me rican culture and, although it is hard

lack of be lts i n p ri son or t o s ignal one’s se xual op enn es s t o o the r
p r ison er s. W hilst on the surf ac e it may s e em f air t o w an t t o remove th e
gangst e r an d p r is on st ere o typ e from f ashi on and e nc our ag e the youth
CODE w e re th a t gave r ise t o the tre nd. B lack an d H i sp anic p e ople make up
on t o th e str aigh t an d nar ro w, it’s w orth looking a t wha t the c onditions

56% of all prisoner s in th e US (th e h ome of black f ashion) and are
incarc e r a t e d a t five times the r a t e of wh it e p e op le . Young peop le of
c olour are a w are of the injustic e s they f ac e! By di smiss ing the w ay they
w e ar thei r trouse r s alongsi de the crop p e d t op s and blingy hoop
By Kitty Shaw e arr ings of Ch ola c ulture , w e are s ignalling t o p e ople tha t belonging t o
their group and all tha t it en tails mean s th ey will be p erc e ived as
hoodlums, tha t in e s tablish me n t sp ac es black culture is s ynonymous
with cr ime .

T he e ffect of this is double: it s ignals t o p e op le of c olour and th ose from lo w er-inc ome house holds tha t they are
no t w e lc ome in a spac e un le ss th ey ass imila t e and sho w s those tr ained t o inhabit thos e spac e s no t t o talk, dre ss or
act like p e op le no t like th em because i t’s le sser. No t only are w e allo wing institution s t o whit e sp lain wha t studen ts or
e mp loye es should or sh ould no t ide n tify with, w e are dis c our aging p e op le of c olour from join ing the es tablishme n ts
tha t se t the se r ules . W ha t is the differen c e be tw e e n a she er blouse through wh ic h you can se e a vest – als o, it’s tr ue,
a p ie c e of unde rw ear – and trouser s which sag lo w en ough t o s ho w boxe r s hor ts? P ure ae sthe tics, whe n you strip a w ay
the cultur al h e ritag e.
Is it a sur p r ise , the n, th a t the most oft e n-cri tici se d group s are w ome n, th e young, the w orking c lass es, and black
men? T he clo the s of thes e group s s ignal th em as outside r s, which are th en us ed as a w e ap on again st th em by
e stablis hme n t me mber s wie ldin g ques tion s p ur p or ting t o be for the g ood of s oci e ty. A re tr aine r s ap p rop ria t e in an
acade mic se tting? A re w ome n' s le gs dis tr ac tin g? S ome of th e distinctions made in dre ss c ode s are cle arly base d on
p o w e r str ucture s. W hy are w a t c he s no t c ons ide re d je w eller y, for e xamp le? B ec aus e they are p r incip ally w or n by men.
W hy do Harrod’s do a ‘f ac e che ck’ t o make sure tha t all the ir me mbe r s of sta ff a re app rop ria t ely groomed be fore th ey
he ad on t o the shop floor? B e caus e the wrong kind of make up looks ‘tacky’, but no t enough look s aust e re and un fe mi -
nine . T he se are the kind of dre s s c odes w e ough t t o be abolishin g – the kind tha t ke e p soc ial mores in se p ar a t e tie r s ,
with p e op le of c olour and w omen lo w e r do wn and striving t o be taken s er iously in c ertain s p ac e s.
It is from A me r ica, where di vision s are p romin en t and no tic e able , tha t w e he ar the most n e w s of the dre ss c ode .
O f girls' s houlde r s be ing deeme d in ap p rop r ia t e, of it be ing ne c e ss ary t o p a ss a lit e r al la w en titling black p e op le t o
w e ar thei r hai r na tur al and still fi nd gain ful e mp loymen t or de c en t hous ing.

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