The relevance of Dress Code

Today morning, I was greeted with a laudable decision by the honourable Madras High Court when I went through the newspaper. The High court has ‘stayed’ the order which imposed the dress code for those who entered temples. The dress code issue has been of debate recently when a single judge ordered temple visitors to stick to specific attire mentioned in his judgement. The honourable High Court stating that beauty and obscenity are in the eyes of the beholder and not in one's dressing has stayed this order. The issue has not been completely resolved as January 18^th has been scheduled for hearing appeals from those who support the dress code order.

In the larger context, the relevance of dress code has been of debate in many circles of the society. The most prominent parallel to the recent issue was when dress code was imposed for college students. To evaluate the relevance of dress code, one need to understand the reason why people in different locations dress the way they do.

Dressing is an extension of geographic and climatic factors. A resident of a tropical country finds cotton clothes suitable owing to its ability to absorb sweat. People in West Asia use a head scarf to protect their faces from the bombarding dust storms. Dwellers in Scandinavian countries, dress in wool to save themselves from prickling cold.

But as a result of globalisation, our dressing has changed beyond climatic factors. Rationally, a pantaloon or a jean is not the suitable attire for someone who lives in a location at 10-degree latitude from the equator. Sticking to the body as oil sticks to hair, it doesn’t provide any ventilation for comfort. Yet, it has been adopted since it can go without washing for days, pants are more suitable than dhotis for climbing stairs, catching buses and jean is suitable for most occasions and places. Though it is unfavourable on account of climate, other factors and personal choices outweigh climate and it has been worn by many.

Photo Courtesy: Lutz-R. Frank

Thus irrespective of gender, dressing is a personal choice and hence should not come under the ambit of regulations. But if a dress code for temples comes under debate since personal choices have changed then why shouldn’t other dress codes which are unreasonably imposed?

I had a conversation with my sister that day regarding children wearing ‘shoes’ for schools. Children wear shoes due to rules and not by choice. Being worn in the school for close to eight hours, the dead meat fragrance which one’s socks emit when one removes them is disgusting. Why should children compulsorily wear shoes in locations with an average temperature of more than 30 degrees?

 The dress code for corporate houses perplexes me the most. Temperatures peak during the month of April and June. But one rarely finds any change in the corporate worker’s gear when he rides to the office every day. With helmet being compulsory, men wearing full hand shirts and shoes waiting for the green signal in traffic are a pain to watch. If that is the suitable attire for working in air conditioned rooms, then why can’t the companies have a dressing room where he could come to the office and change in the stipulated costume?

It is agreed that though dressing is a personal choice it can be subjected to regulations when one leaves his private space. But as few instances mentioned above, dress codes though mandated should be reasonable so that it does not cause discomfort to the person wearing it.

Photo Courtesy:

Lutz-R. Frank