Hey, it's TED Talks Daily. I'm Elise Hugh. Today, a historic look at how fashion and the long arm of the law have collided throughout history. In other words, law professor and fashionista Richard Thompson Ford shares his expertise on the literal fashion police. In his talk at TED at BCG in 2021, he sheds light on all the ways people still get in

trouble for what they're wearing and why wardrobe means so much.

In 1565, a man named Richard Wallman was arrested in London for wearing what the authorities described as a very monstrous and great, outrageous pair of trunk hose.

For those of you who don't already have a pair of these in your closet. Trunkos are these puffy trousers,

and they were all the rage in men's fashion in Renaissance England.

But they could get you into trouble.

Walwin had his pants confiscated by the authorities

and exhibited in a public place as, I quote, an example of extreme folly.

Laws like this weren't unique to Tudor-era England. In fact, the fashion police were hard

at work all over Europe at this period in history. In England, France, Spain, and in cities up and down

the Italian peninsula, the authorities were passing laws about what people could wear, sometimes

dozens in a single year in order to keep up with ever-changing fashions. Now, okay, I imagine

you're all thinking, well, that's an interesting history

lesson, but what does it have to do with us today? That's like bloodletting or trial by a

ordeal. It's not the sort of thing we do in today's enlightened society. But actually we do.

In fact, even in the 21st century,

people regularly lose their jobs.

Kids are sent home from school.

People are kept off airplanes

and other types of public transportation.

And sometimes people are even jailed

for what they're wearing.

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