Best of: The future of fashion and dress codes

New York Fashion Week wrapped up last month, but the questions it raises don't go away once the runways come down: why do clothes carry so much meaning, and who really gets to decide what "professional" looks like? Today we’re re-releasing a conversation I had with Stanford law professor Richard Ford, who's spent his career studying the surprising legal history behind our clothes — from laws in the Middle Ages that dictated what you could wear based on rank, to modern fights over workplace hairstyles and school dress codes. We get into how dress codes have shaped the fight for civil rights, and why so many workers in Silicon Valley wear the exact same fleece vest. Whether your closet is full of statement pieces or you’ve been wearing the same shirt on repeat all week, we hope you’ll take another listen to this interesting conversation. Have a question for Russ? Send it our way in writing or via voice memo, and it might be featured on an upcoming episode. Please introduce yourself, let us know where you're listening from, and share your question. You can send questions to [email protected]. Episode Reference Links: Stanford Profile: Rich Ford Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>> Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Chapters: (00:00:00) Introduction Russ Altman introduces this re-release with Richard Ford, a professor of law at Stanford University, on the history, meaning, and power of dress codes. (00:02:12) Why Study Dress Codes? How civil rights, constitutional law, workplace rules, and school policies led Ford to study fashion and dress codes. (00:03:30) The Origins of Dress Codes How fashion emerged in the late Middle Ages and sumptuary laws regulated clothing by social rank. (00:05:09) Written and Unwritten Rules How formal dress codes gave way to powerful social expectations about what people should wear. (00:06:31) Fashion and Self-Expression How people, especially young people, find ways to express themselves even within strict dress codes. (00:08:04) The Great Masculine Renunciation How men’s fashion shifted toward sober, practical clothing as political and social values changed. (00:11:00) Dress Codes and Social Control How rules about clothing can reinforce hierarchy while also inspiring resistance and social change. (00:12:46) Hair as Fashion and Identity How hairstyles have reflected class, professionalism, gender, and cultural identity across history. (00:14:51) Dress Codes and Civil Rights How clothing and hairstyles became tools of protest, respectability, and racial identity during the civil rights era. (00:17:45) Clothing, Race, and Respect How Ford’s father shaped his understanding of dress as a way to express self-respect and command respect from others. (00:20:29) Reverse Snobbery Why dressing down can sometimes signal higher status in academia, Silicon Valley, and other elite environments. (00:22:18) Gender and Fashion How clothing expectations have historically constrained women and reinforced ideas about gender. (00:24:38) The Midtown Uniform Why workers can converge on an unofficial uniform even after formal workplace dress codes disappear. (00:25:54) The Case for Uniforms How uniforms can reduce status competition while creating tension with self-expression. (00:27:36) The Future of Dress Codes Why self-expression through clothing is unlikely to disappear even as fashion becomes increasingly casual. (00:28:41) Future In a Minute Rapid-fire Q&A: fashion, young people, sustainability, equality, and the future. (00:30:07) Conclusion Connect With Us: Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything Website Connect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / Mastodon Connect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.