Page 20 - Lamplight Magazine (1)

It is in A mer ica tha t w e s ee r acial t e nsion s more A dress c ode marks the kind of institution you are in:
star kly than they ap p e ar in the UK, and th e the differenc e be tw een the knee-length minimum, suit-w ear -
c onne ctions are much more s ignifi can t than w e migh t ing sixth form I a tt ended and the jeans-or-leg gings sixth
a t fir st sus p ec t, the r ami fic a tion s muc h more s evere . form I w ork in should be obvious, even be fore I t ell you tha t
‘I kne w he w as trouble’, a p oli c e offic er migh t say, in a one of those is an inner-city sta t e school and one is a
cr isp p res se d unifor m a t a tr ibunal, ‘his clo thes gr ammar in a lea fy suburb. O ne of the big g est distinc tions
marked hi m out as a hoodlum’. D ress c ode s are just be tw een middle- and w orking-class opp ortunities is the
on e more e xamp le of sub tle soc ial c odes and judg e - under standing of sub tle social c ues a middle-class
FUCK t your self
men ts: min e fi elds unles s you w e re r ais ed around up bringing develop s. Kno wing ho w t o p resen
them. ‘ap p rop ria t ely ’ in a number of differen t situa tions p uts
It must be said, though, tha t these biases also w ork o ther s a t ease and brings more of those op portunities t o the
the o ther w ay. Have you ever been t o a S outh London door of the middle-c lass p er son. Perhap s those Chola-sty le
house p arty str aigh t from w ork? O r a tt ended a p oe try earrings are a health and sa fe ty hazard, and thus no t
THE
slam in heels? A lthough they are unsp oken, r a ther than ap p rop ria t e for a job in t ervie w, but it’s only a p roblem for
se t out for sp ecifi c p urp oses in p olicies, these silen t p eop le in c ertain lines of w ork. W ha t’s st op ping a cust omer
dress c odes sho w tha t it is ho w w e in t erp re t clo thes tha t servic e op er a tive from sho wing her H isp anic roo ts – o ther,
ma tt er s. W hy no t think of an e xamp le ap p licable t o all of of c our se, than sub tle r ac ism and social c odes designed t o
us: I o wn t-shirts p roclaiming me a f an of things as e xclude her?
diver se as Pa tric k Mc G oohan’s T he P risoner and G irls S ome bold p ublic figures, of c our se, are no t le tting dress
A loud – which do you think I w ear in lectures if I w an t t o c odes stand in their w ay : Magid Magid, Lord Mayor of
sp eak up and be taken ser iously? T hese soc ial c odes are S he ffield, regularly p air s his c eremonial c ollar with
sho w casing wha t w e w an t t o be associa t ed with, wha t w e snapback s and tr ainer s. He manag es t o remain p op ular with
w an t peop le t o take as cues about us. A p er son w earing a his c onstituen ts and is en tirely cap able of doing his job in
ka ftan migh t be signalling their in t erest in yo ga, or the this garb. A ri S e th C ohen’s blo g ‘Advanc ed Style’ challeng es
idea of the body as c onnect ed t o the w orld; a p er son the idea tha t older p eop le w ear ing revealing clo thes or
w earing f resh, clean N ike D unks migh t be signalling their high-f ashion c outure is inap p rop ria t e, re futing the idea tha t
DRESS
ap p rec ia tion for f ashion and love of br anding. T hese are p eop le should ‘gro w old gr ac e fully’ and c ease t o have a
the cues w e ough t t o take from their outfits, no t ho w visible p er sonality or make a sta t emen t as they ag e. S erena
cap able they are of their job or whe ther they c an be W illiams and K rist en St e w art have bo th stag ed silen t ye t
trust ed. Fashion signals wha t w e c an rela t e t o a p er son e ffective p ushbacks against their industries ’ p olicing of the
about, no t whe ther one p er son is be tt er than ano ther and female body, p utting their health and their c om fort fir st
more w orthy of our social e fforts. whilst using their outfits (a N ike ca tsuit for W illiams; bare
O f c our se there are instanc es where my w ords c ould fee t for St e w art) as a w ay of sho wing their distast e with
be thro wn back a t me. D r Ma tt Tay lor' s se xist shirt, for ho w they are trea t ed by the establishmen t within their o wn
e xamp le, has no p lac e in the w ork environmen t, and a industry. It’s t emp ting t o say tha t w e’re in a time of chang e,
dress c ode w ould p reven t it being w orn in tha t c on t e xt. but tha t w ould lack a w areness of ho w much there is ye t t o
S chool uniforms, which equalise (although ar guably undo.
disen fr anchise) studen ts are no t only a dress c ode, but a T he sub t e xt of f ashion c omes t o be relevan t when
f air ly e xtreme one a t tha t. T he pu rpose of these rules, discussing wha t it say s about our soc ie ty, and when w e are
CODE
though, is differen t: r a ther than sho wing people from deciding wha t kind of soc ie ty w e w an t t o live in. G iving
diver se socio-ec onomic bac kgrounds tha t this is no t their social cues is some thing w e should be f ree t o do as
‘plac e’, removing carica tures of w omen has the rever se our selves, and rec eiving social c ues ough t no t t o be
e ffect, w elc oming w omen in t o a w ork environmen t which c on fused with thinly -veiled r ac ism, se xism, homop hobia, or
is typ ically male. Removing obvious boundaries be tw een ag eism based on judging a p er son’s skills or e thics by their
studen ts c an p reven t bullying or clique forming and allo w clo thes. Clo thing does no t t ell us ho w a p er son does their
studen ts t o learn and develop in a much more ac c ep ting job, p aren ts their child, or lives their life. Clo thes do no t
a tmosp here. We should analy se the reason for the c ode, make th the man but they do designa t e ideas held by him,
and w eigh up the p ros and c ons, be fore w e ac c ep t its and as suc h they deserve the resp ect w e o w e t o the
authority. individual.