Page 225 - Berkshire Encyclopedia Of World History Vol Two

574 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

A Sioux pictograph
depicting Sioux killed in the
battle of the Little Bighorn.
Viewers of the pictograph
could tell the identity of the
slain warriors from their
costume, paint, and body
adornment.

jugation. An example is the queue
(a braid of hair usually worn hang-
ing at the back of the head) and
Manchu clothing that were imposed
by the conquering Qing dynasty
(1644–1912) on the ethnic Chi-
nese. Clothing of subjugation can
take on symbolic meaning and
come to represent the political sys-
tem that institutes it. Its removal
also can take on political overtones.
One of the symbols of the 1911
Chinese Revolution was severing
the queues, although Manchu cloth-
ing was mostly retained because of
its practicality.

Occupations
Within social divisions dress often
became a marker for occupations.
Specialized garments developed to
protect workers or their clothing
from the dangerous elements of
their profession. Dress such as the
blacksmith’s apron or the baker’s
hat became integral parts of the craft
or professional identity. In some
Sumptuary (relating to personal expenditures) laws that cases, such as academic dress, specific garment details
govern the clothing of particular classes developed in became institutionalized and continued as a marker long
early times.They are most numerous where class tension after their original purpose was gone.Today the color of
exists. During the early Ottoman Empire sumptuary one’s collar is used to denote hierarchy in the Western
laws were seldom published, implying that the social workforce. Occupational custom could be so strong that
boundaries between classes were generally accepted. workers had to fight for the right to wear more practical
However, in early modern Europe the frequent publica- attire. U.S. nurses and female hospital workers faced both
tion of such laws coincided with the struggle for power custom and gender boundaries in their battle to wear
between the nobility and the rising middle class. pants instead of skirts and white hose at work.
Just as dress can denote status, it can also denote sub- Dress can be an external expression of one’s religious