Fashion is never just clothes. From the sumptuary laws of medieval Europe that restricted what fabrics different social classes were permitted to wear, to the political symbolism of the jeans that young people smuggled into the Soviet Union, to the ongoing battles over dress codes in schools, workplaces, and legislatures, what we wear on our bodies has always been entangled with questions of power, identity, and social belonging. A new look at the cultural history of Western fashion reveals how clothing has served as a primary medium for expressing resistance, aspiration, mourning, solidarity, and the full range of human social communication.

The Body as a Site of Social Control

Across most of recorded history, clothing has been used as a mechanism of social stratification and control. Sumptuary laws – regulations governing who could wear what – were common across European, Asian, and Middle Eastern societies for centuries, restricting the use of certain colors (purple in Rome, yellow in imperial China), materials (silk, fur, gold thread), and styles to specific social classes. These laws were not primarily about aesthetics or modesty – they were about maintaining visible social hierarchy in a world where physical appearance was one of the few reliable signals of social status available to strangers.

• The color black, now associated with formal occasions and sophistication, was originally associated with mourning in Western fashion before being reclaimed by multiple subcultures and eventually the fashion establishment itself.
• The corset’s history illustrates how garments can simultaneously represent oppression and assertion of identity, depending on who is wearing it, in what era, and by whose choice.
• Denim jeans, now the global uniform of casual dress, began as workwear for California gold miners before being appropriated by youth culture as a symbol of rebellion against middle-class conformity in the 1950s and 1960s.

Subculture and Resistance Through Dress

Some of the most significant chapters in fashion history are the stories of marginalized groups using clothing as a form of resistance and identity construction. The zoot suit riots of 1943 were as much about the racism directed at Mexican-American youth who wore the distinctive oversized suits as they were about wartime fabric rationing concerns. The emergence of queer fashion codes in pre-Stonewall America created systems of dress that allowed LGBTQ+ people to signal identity to each other while remaining invisible to a hostile mainstream culture.

Contemporary Fashion Politics

The politicization of fashion has not diminished in the contemporary era – it has expanded and accelerated. Sustainability and labor rights have made fast fashion a political consumer choice. Cultural appropriation debates have made the origin of design elements a subject of public scrutiny. Dress codes in professional settings have become battlegrounds for questions about professionalism’s relationship to race, gender, and religion. And social media has compressed the time between a garment appearing on a designer’s runway and becoming a subject of political commentary to hours rather than seasons.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute?

The Met’s Costume Institute houses one of the world’s most significant collections of fashion history, with over 33,000 garments and accessories dating from the 15th century to the present. The annual Met Gala fundraises for the institute and is one of the most prominent fashion events in the world.