Making and breaking order via clothing Clothing regulation, cross-dressing, and the ordering mentality in later medieval and early modern England

Abstract

Following the events which disrupted social stability in fourteenth and fifteenth-century England, individuals from a variety of social contexts demonstrated a particular necessity to see order visibly displayed in society. This thesis examines sumptuary regulations and cross-dressing side by side to demonstrate clothing's relationship to both making and breaking order. In the act of revealing this relationship, this thesis will argue that the two cases demonstrate clothing’s importance in creating a visible confirmation of social order which ultimately brings to the surface an underlying collective ordering mentality that equated a sense of security with arranging everyone in society in their rightful place.