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 Russ 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. The discussion gets 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. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 02:12 Why Study Dress Codes? 03:30 The Origins of Dress Codes 05:09 Written and Unwritten Rules 06:31 Fashion and Self-Expression 08:04 The Great Masculine Renunciation 11:00 Dress Codes and Social Control 12:46 Hair as Fashion and Identity 14:51 Dress Codes and Civil Rights 17:45 Clothing, Race, and Respect 20:29 Reverse Snobbery 22:18 Gender and Fashion 24:38 The Midtown Uniform 25:54 The Case for Uniforms 27:36 The Future of Dress Codes 28:41 Future In a Minute 30:07 Conclusion