History Main / DressCode

** Local, family-friendly conventions tend to prohibit revealing clothing, nudity, and sometimes cosplay weapons, even ones that are visibly fake.
** Larger conventions for a more adult crowd generally allow revealing clothing, but may prohibit outright nudity. Prop weapons are allowed, but have to pass inspection by staff to make sure they're not actually dangerous. Weapons that can cause injuries are usually banned, including live steel, projectile weapons, and the infamous "yaoi paddles".

** Larger conventions for a more adult crowd generally allow revealing clothing, but may prohibit outright nudity or costumes that show genitals. Prop weapons are allowed, but have to pass inspection by staff to make sure they're not actually dangerous. Weapons that can cause injuries are usually banned, including live steel, projectile weapons, and the infamous "yaoi paddles".

** Larger conventions for a more adult crowd generally allow revealing clothing, but may prohibit outright nudity or costumes that show genitals. Prop weapons are allowed, but have to be inspected and tagged by staff before being allowed out onto the convention floor. Weapons that could actually cause injury are usually banned, including live steel, projectile weapons, and the infamous "yaoi paddles".

** Larger conventions for a more adult crowd generally allow revealing clothing, but may prohibit outright nudity or costumes that show genitals. Prop weapons are allowed, but have to be inspected and tagged by staff before being allowed out onto the convention floor. Weapons that could actually hurt somebody are usually banned, including live steel, projectile weapons, and the infamous "yaoi paddles".

* Some cosplay conventions have dress codes, depending on the age range they're aimed at. Revealing clothing and/or nudity may be against the rules at family-friendly conventions. Cosplay weapons are sometimes another grey area; some small, family-friendly conventions don't allow any weapons (even fake ones), while at others, certain cosplay weapons may be off-limits for safety reasons (such as projectile weapons and live steel) while approved cosplay weapons have to be inspected and tagged by convention staff.

* In season 10 of ''Series/{{Degrassi}}'' the school introduces uniforms ''[[SuddenSchoolUniform in the middle of the school year]]'', in response to a number of incidents. A far cry from ''Series/DegrassiJuniorHigh'' where they didn't even have a ''wardrobe'' and the characters' clothes were the actors' own.

* Parodied in ''Website/CollegeHumor'''s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLZ8L6SZmaA Problem]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FC85vgHCmM With]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_QhF5HYdS4 Jeggings]] series.

* Usually averted in ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' (mostly because Patrick, who wears neither a shirt nor shoes is one of the Krusty Krab's regular customers, not to mention, most of the characters on the show don't wear shoes), but the episode, "The Algae's Always Greener" has Spongebob scream, "No shirt, no shoes, no service!" while firing a cannon armed with clothing at a naked Mr. Krabs.
* The 2013 ''WesternAnimation/{{Mickey Mouse|2013}}'' short "[[Recap/MickeyMouseS1E1NoService No Service]]" has Goofy's Snack Shack, which has a No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service policy. Since Mickey doesn't wear a shirt, nor does Donald wear shoes, Mickey is forced to surrender his clothes to Donald and [[Main/NakedPeopleTrappedOutside stay outside naked]] while Donald orders the food.

* In ''WesternAnimation/BigCityGreens'' episode "No Service", Cricket's habit of [[DoesNotWearShoes not wearing shoes]] is tested when he cannot go into a store because of its "No shirt, no shoes, no service" policy.

* In Brazil, you cannot enter a public building without long pants.

This trope applies just as much in RealLife as in fiction. Theee of the most common places for dress codes are schools, workplaces (particularly offices), and fine dining establishments. Schools which enforce dress codes may carve out exceptions, i.e. "spirit wear" or casual wear allowed as a reward, on birthdays, at regular intervals, or in exchange for a small donation to charity [[note]] and sometimes a combination of the latter two [[/note]] Students may be ChafingAgainstTheDressCode, especially in a BoardingSchool with a strict code. Some entire plots in school-set stories are about [[AntiSchoolUniformsPlot hating the official school uniform]].

Dress codes and [[NoOSHACompliance workplace safety rules]] may overlap.

Workplaces often have "Casual Fridays" and at a WackyStartupWorkplace, employees wear flip flops, and yoga pants and hoodies every day. There are still limits, of course, although on many shows the characters will take their sartorial freedom to [[HilarityEnsues hilarious extremes]]. Some workers may wear outlandish garb and others may wear Stripperiffic outfits that turn everyone's heads (this plot point may be a way to show skin and add {{Fanservice}}).

Dress codes and [[No OSHA Compliance workplace safety rules]] may overlap.

In RealLife, some dress codes have been disallowed as they were deemed racist or sexist. For example, some schools that banned dreadlocks were told by courts that this rule discriminated against Black students. In the UK, courts ruled against workplace dess codes that required women to wear makeup and reapply it throughout the day, and against workplaces that required women to wear high heels. In the US, the ACLU has defended students from schools seeking to punish them for wearing certain clothes to school. In most of the legal cases, the crux of the case is that the rules are discriminatory towards certain groups. For example, in one ACLU case, a female student was punished for wearing a tube top. The "no tube tops" rule was struck down because it only applied to female students.

Workplaces often have "Casual Fridays." (There are still limits, of course, although on many shows the characters will take their sartorial freedom to [[HilarityEnsues hilarious extremes]]). Posh restaurants, wood-paneled clubs, and fine bars where LuxuriousLiquor is sold may require men to wear a suit and tie.

And this can also be in other formal situations like black tie dinners or gala events or {{Standard Royal Court}}s.

# To ensure an elite ambiance, such as at a fancy ClassicalMusic opera concert.

This trope applies just as much in RealLife as in fiction. Theee of the most common places for dress codes are schools, workplaces (particularly offices), and fine dining establishments. Schools which enforce dress codes may carve out exceptions, i.e. "spirit wear" or casual wear allowed as a reward, on birthdays, at regular intervals, or in exchange for a small donation to charity [[note]] and sometimes a combination of the latter two [[/note]] Students may be ChafingAgainstTheDressCode, especially in a BoardingSchool with a strict code. Workplaces often have "Casual Fridays." (There are still limits, of course, although on many shows the characters will take their sartorial freedom to [[HilarityEnsues hilarious extremes]]). Posh restaurants, wood-paneled clubs, and fine bars where LuxuriousLiquor is sold may require men to wear a suit and tie.

This trope applies just as much in RealLife as in fiction. Theee of the most common places for dress codes are schools, workplaces (particularly offices), and fine dining establishments. Schools which enforce dress codes may carve out exceptions, i.e. "spirit wear" or casual wear allowed as a reward, on birthdays, at regular intervals, or in exchange for a small donation to charity [[note]] and sometimes a combination of the latter two [[/note]]. Workplaces often have "Casual Fridays." (There are still limits, of course, although on many shows the characters will take their sartorial freedom to [[HilarityEnsues hilarious extremes]]). Posh restaurants, wood-paneled clubs, and fine bars where LuxuriousLiquor is sold may require men to wear a suit and tie.

You ever see a sign outside a business that reads "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service"? A bar that bans construction boots and jeans? A fancy-shmancy restaurant downtown where men must wear a dress shirts and ties? A high school that doesn't allow short-shorts or muscle shirts? Those are Dress Codes.

Anytime a place has rules for what people should wear and shouldn't wear. This can include uniforms, but in that case the code is simply to wear the appropriate uniform. Actual dress codes allow more freedom, especially depending on the situation--and on the creativity of people trying to "bend" the rules. For example, at a posh gala that requires ties, a {{Cowboy}} may wear a skinny bolo tie and try to get in. At a fancy bar that bans hoodies, a rich TechBro may try to claim that his $500 Versace hoodie should be OK.

# To delineate status, such as in a DecadentCourt full of wealthy BlueBlood nobles, where only top royalty can wear a certain item or color.

In fiction, two of the most common reasons for stating dress codes are:
# To ensure an elite ambiance, such as a DecadentCourt full of wealthy BlueBlood nobles.

Anytime a place has rules for what people should wear and shouldn't wear. This can include uniforms, but in that case the code is simply to wear the appropriate uniform. Actual dress codes allow more freedom, especially depending on the situation--and on the creativity of people trying to "bend" the rules.

# To add flavor to the place, such as a DecadentCourt full of wealthy BlueBlood nobles.

Anytime a place has rules for what people should and shouldn't wear. This can include uniforms, but in that case the code is simply to wear the appropriate uniform. Actual dress codes allow more freedom, especially depending on the situation.

This trope applies just as much in RealLife as in fiction.

Two of the most common places for dress codes are schools and workplaces, particularly offices. Schools which enforce dress codes may carve out exceptions, i.e. spirit wear or casual wear allowed as a reward, on birthdays, at regular intervals, or in exchange for a small donation to charity [[note]] and sometimes a combination of the latter two [[/note]]. Workplaces often have "Casual Fridays." (There are still limits, of course, although on many shows the characters will take their sartorial freedom to [[HilarityEnsues hilarious extremes]]).

And this can also be in other formal situations like black tie dinners or {{Standard Royal Court}}s.

# To add flavor to the place, such as a DecadentCourt.

You ever see a sign outside a business that reads "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service"? That's a Dress Code.

* In ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', girls from Tokiwadai Middle School are required to wear their uniform at all times, even outside of school. Mikoto wears ModestyShorts under her skirt since it's too short for her.

* The court of UsefulNotes/TsaristRussia had [[http://www.alexanderpalace.org/palace/ctcostume.html a dress code]], which included requiring ladies to wear the {{Pimped Out Dress}}es with the distinctive sleeves and [[CoolCrown tiaras]].
** Many other royal courts in the 19th century had their own codes as well. In a nutshell, this was the ErmineCapeEffect being [[EnforcedTrope enforced]], rather than just as an image.
*** And even earlier. One of Jane Seymour's newly appointed maids of honor caught all kinds of grief over her clothes. They were too French, she didn't have the right headress, and her girdle didn't have the regulation two hundred pearls!
** And before that, there were the "Sumptuary Laws", which dictated what materials people of a certain rank were allowed to wear. Apparently this was enacted by kings and queens tired of people of lower rank dressing better than them.
*** More importantly, at the time social rank determined how the law treated you, so trying to pass out for a higher class than you actually were was tantamount to serious fraud.
*** One of the laws was [[PrettyInMink what kind of fur one could wear]]. Ermine was largely associated with royalty already due to [[RequisiteRoyalRegalia their robes and capes]], but at that time royalty had it exclusive by law.