Richard Thompson Ford: A tailored history of who wears what -- and why | TED

Transcriber:

翻译人员: Gracia Chew 校对人员: Helen Chang

在1565年，一名名为 理查德·沃尔文的男子在伦敦被逮捕，

因为他穿了一条官方认为“非常怪异

In 1565, a man named Richard Walweyn was arrested in London

且极其不像话的桶形连袜裤。”

for wearing what the authorities described

（笑声）

as a “very monstrous

向家里没有这种裤子的人解释一下，

and great outrageous pair of trunk hose.”

桶形连袜裤是一种膨松的裤子，

在文艺复兴时代的英格兰风靡一时。

(Laughter)

For those of you who don't already have a pair of these in your closet,

但它们会给人带来麻烦。

trunk hose are these puffy trousers,

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

当时，沃尔文的裤子被政府没收，

并在公共场所中展出，

But they could get you into trouble.

Walweyn had his pants confiscated by the authorities

号称“愚不可及的范例”。

（笑声）

and exhibited in a public place,

这样的法律在 都铎王朝时期的英格兰并不罕见。

as, I quote, "an example of extreme folly."

实际上，当时遍布欧洲各地的 时尚警察都在努力工作，

(Laughter)

Laws like this weren't unique to Tudor-era England.

不论是在英国、法国、西班牙,

In fact, the fashion police were hard at work all over Europe

还是意大利半岛周边的城市。

为了跟上日新月异的时尚潮流，

at this period in history.

In England, France, Spain

政府不断地制定约束人们穿着的法令，

and in cities up and down the Italian peninsula.

有时在一年内就能颁布几十条。

The authorities were passing laws about what people could wear,

我猜你们现在都在想，

sometimes dozens in a single year,

哇，这堂历史课真有趣。

in order to keep up with ever changing fashions.

但这和今天的我们到底有什么关系？

它就像放血或者神明裁判，

Now, OK, I imagine you're all thinking,

well, that's an interesting history lesson.

是现代的开明社会已摒弃的做法。

But what does it have to do with us today?

That's like bloodletting or trial by ordeal.

其实不然。

事实上，即使在21世纪，

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

人们也常常因装束问题而失业、

被学校遣送回家、

But actually we do.

被禁止登机或乘搭其他公共交通，

In fact, even in the 21st century,

people regularly lose their jobs,

有时甚至因此入狱。

kids are sent home from school,

people are kept off airplanes and other types of public transportation,

举几个例子。

2015年，肯塔基州的 一位中学生史蒂芬妮·邓恩

and sometimes people are even jailed for what they're wearing.

被学校遣送回家，

A couple of examples.

因为她穿了一件不合体统、

In 2015, a high school student in Kentucky named Stephanie Dunn

露出锁骨的暴露性上衣。

然后在2012年，

was sent home from school

for wearing a scandalously revealing top

阿拉巴马的一位法官因某人穿了吊裆裤

that revealed her collarbones.

而判他入狱。

And in 2012,

an Alabama judge sentenced someone to jail

法官说，”你这是在蔑视法庭，

“因为你在法庭上露出你的屁股。”

for wearing sagging pants.

"You are in contempt of court," the judge said,

我是一名法律系教授，主攻人权、

"because you showed your butt in court."

种族正义和性别平等课题。

在我的职业生涯中，

I’m a law professor, and I work on questions of civil rights

居然闻过如此多关于穿着和着装守则的 法律纠纷，这让我很震惊。

and racial justice and gender equity.

And over the course of my career,

而这些诉讼让我心想除了赶时髦，

I've been surprised at just how many legal disputes

involve what people are wearing.

我们装束背后或许还 潜藏着许多因素。

And all of these lawsuits over dress and dress codes got me thinking

因此，我决定探究 服装规定和法令的历史，

that there's a lot more going on with our attire

than just making a fashion statement.

试着找出服装背后的关键。

So I decided to look into the history of rules and laws around clothing

我的研究把我带回中世纪后期。

我发现随着城市的发展

to try to figure out what's really at stake.

和陌生人的会集，人们需要一个

And my research took me all the way back to the late Middle Ages.

能一眼辨识身份的方法，

因此，这些法规就开始出现。

I found that these kinds of laws and rules

really got started with the growth of cities

而时装成为了地位、身份 和所属的标志。

when strangers began to come together

and needed a way to size each other up quickly and on sight.

精英人士利用时装 来宣称他们的社会优势

And fashion became a kind of shorthand for status and identity and belonging.

和上等的身份地位。

而普通人则视服装为一种

The elite used fashion

挑战权威或者攀登社会阶梯的方式。

in order to assert their social superiority

and high status and position.

And the average person used fashion

当时，时尚是一种证书，

as a way to challenge authority or to climb the social ladder.

而错误的装束可被视为一种诈骗。

比如，佛罗伦萨僭主科西莫·德·美第奇

Fashion was a type of credential,

曾说过，“两码红绸造绅士。”

and wearing the wrong clothing could be considered a type of fraud.

For instance, the Florentine patriarch, Cosimo de' Medici,

这种对冒用服装的担忧

once said, "One can make a gentleman from two yards of red silk."

促使社会精英批准法令， 规定只有他们能穿戴

And this worry about the fraudulent use of fashion

最高级奢华的服饰。

led the elite to pass laws that held that only they could wear

所以珠宝、珍贵金属、 毛皮和红绸等奢侈品

在法律面前 只能由贵族和皇室家族穿戴。

the most high status and luxurious fashions,

so things like jewels, precious metals, fur and red silk

而在某种程度上，现今社会 和以前相比大同小异。

were restricted by law to the aristocracy and royalty.

时至今日，我们仍利用服装和时尚

来表明身份、地位和归属，

And in a way, it's not all that different today.

不论是麦迪逊大道的昂贵高级时装

Even today, we used clothing and fashion

as a way to signal identity and status and belonging,

还是城市街头文化的前卫风格。

因此，我们也会在某种程度上 根据对方的穿着进行评判

whether it's the expensive high fashions you might find on Madison Avenue

or the edgy styles of an urban street culture.

或许并不惊奇。

So maybe it's not surprising that we also judge each other in part

但问题是，我们不总是擅长这样做。

我们可能会犯下 造成严重后果的重大错误。

based on what we're wearing.

The problem is that we're not always very good at it.

我们能蛮准确地评估和自己相似的人。

We could make serious mistakes that can have real consequences.

所以，我还挺擅长评估大学教授、律师

So it works pretty good when we’re dealing with people who are a lot like ourselves.

和身居大城市的艺术热爱者的衣柜。

So I'm not bad at evaluating the wardrobes of college professors,

但面对不同生活背景的人就不然了。

lawyers, artsy types who live in big cities.

举个例子。

But we're not so good when it comes to dealing with people

我曾经教过的一个学生

是家里第一个上大学的，她告诉我

from other walks of life.

她争取到一个工作面试的机会， 而且她真的很想要这份工作，

Here's an example.

A former student of mine,

所以她穿了自己最漂亮的裙子 去参加面试。

who was the first in her family to attend college, told me this.

She got a job interview, and she really wanted the job,

问题来了。

当她到场时，办公室里的人 都认为她的裙子看似派对服装，

and so she wore her very best dress to the interview.

Problem was when she got there,

因此他们以为她打扮得那么花哨 是为了傍晚去泡吧，

the other people in the office thought her dress looked like a party dress,

不是很认真地对待这份工作。

他们误解了她的穿着， 进而误解了她的动机。

so they thought she was dressed up to go clubbing afterwards,

later in the evening,

另一个问题在于 我们对职业性的印象大多是

and wasn't that serious about the job.

They misread her clothing and therefore they misread her motivations.

在许多人被排除在职业之外后 才建立的。

Another problem is that a lot of our ideas about professionalism

结果，这群人很难找到

看起来专业又适合他们的服装。

were established when large groups of people

were excluded from the professions.

就想想希拉里·克林顿 穿上裤装时所受尽的悲痛。

And as a consequence, those groups have a harder time

finding something that looks professional and is appropriate for them.

比尔·克林顿从未有过那种问题。

而且有色人种女性常受苦于社会

Just think of all the grief Hillary Clinton got about her pantsuits.

Bill Clinton never had those problems.

根据白种人的发质所设定的服仪规范。

And women of color often suffer under dress and grooming codes

因此，很多职场服仪规范 仍禁止留辫子和发绺，

that were based on the hair texture common to white people.

也就是那些 适合非裔美国人发质的风格。

So a lot of workplace dress codes still forbid braids and locks,

而在该职场上班的女性 得面对残酷的选择。

styles that are well suited to the texture of African-American's hair.

他们需要用刺激性化合物来矫直头发

And women in those workplaces face a cruel choice.

或者剪掉大部分的头发。

那简直太欺辱人了，

而它需要这些女性的牺牲，

They either need to straighten their hair with harsh chemicals

别人不必作出就能被视为专业的牺牲。

or cut most of it off.

That’s just insulting,

and it requires the sacrifice of these types of women

而最后，我们对于 什么是合适的部分想法

that other people never have to make in order to be considered professional.

取自于某些成见。

比如，许多职场着装守则

仍要求职业女性穿高跟鞋。

And finally, some of our ideas about what's appropriate

are based on stereotypes.

而来自世界各地的女性

And so, for instance, a lot of workplace dress codes

已开始抵抗这种规范。

still require women to wear high-heeled shoes.

例如，伦敦的一位女士传播了关于对抗

职业女性需穿高跟鞋上班的请愿书。

And women from all over the world

have started to push back against these kind of dress codes.

而它一路传到国会那里。

So, for instance, a woman in London circulated a petition

出席戛纳电影节的女性赤着脚

以抗议要求她们

against workplace dress codes requiring high heels.

穿高跟鞋的着装守则。

And it got all the way to Parliament.

日本的女性也已发起

Women at the Cannes Film Festival

went barefoot in order to protest a dress code

名为 #KuToo 的社会运动。

that would require them to wear high heels.

这像是对 #MeToo 的肯定，

And women in Japan have actually started a social movement

但 #KuToo 在日语指的是“鞋痛”。

that has gotten the name #KuToo.

所以至此，你或许在想：

It's kind of a nod to #MeToo,

but #KuToo means "shoe pain" in Japanese.

若没有人关心这些事，岂不是更好吗？

也许我们都该像马克·扎克伯格一样，

So, OK, at this point, you're probably thinking,

每天只穿灰色 T 恤。

wouldn't it be better if no one cared about any of this stuff?

但这是他所提供的原因。

You know, maybe we should all be like Mark Zuckerberg,

他说：“如果我把精力花费在

who just wears a gray T-shirt every day.

无聊或无关紧要的事情上， 这表示我没有把工作做好。

But here's what he said about why he wears that gray T-shirt.

He said, "I'm not doing my job

而这就是我每天 都穿灰色体恤的原因。“

if I spend any of my energy on things that are silly or frivolous.

那听起来不像一个不管别人

And that's my reason for wearing a gray T-shirt every day."

在穿什么的人。

这反倒像他在说那些衣着时髦的人

So that doesn't quite sound like somebody who doesn't care

愚蠢轻浮，并不在认真地把工作做好。

about what people are wearing.

Instead, it sounds like he's saying that people who dress fashionably

那件灰色体恤突然不代表漠视穿着了，

are silly and frivolous and aren't doing their jobs.

而是成为了品德和职业道德的象征。

而它可以成为一种新的着装规范。

That gray T-shirt, suddenly not a matter of indifference,

事实上，当雅虎的行政总裁 玛丽莎·梅耶尔穿了条

it's become a signal of moral virtue and the work ethic.

And that can just be a new kind of dress code.

时髦的裙子在时尚杂志亮相时，

激起刻薄的反应。

In fact, on cue, when Marissa Mayer, the CEO of Yahoo!,

某个评论员认为 她看起来像在放松度假，

wore a fashionable dress for a fashion magazine spread,

不像其他人在工作。

the response was harsh.

One commentator said she looks like she's relaxing and on vacation

所以假装自己不关心他人的穿着

while everyone else is doing work.

可变成较细微、较有害的服装规范。

So pretending you don't care about what people wear

而实际上，去除书面的着装守则

can turn into just a more subtle and insidious form of dress code.

有时会带来同样严酷

乃至更有限制性的着装规范。

And in fact, getting rid of the written dress code

比如，投资银行高盛集团

sometimes leads to an unwritten dress code

与2019年去除正式商业着装守则，

that's equally harsh or maybe even more restrictive.

但管理层偏偏要加以下的句子：

So, for instance, the investment bank Goldman Sachs

“我们都知道什么是适合 或者不适合职场的服仪。”

got rid of its formal business dress code in 2019,

（笑声）

but the management had to add this:

于是，有些人开始想：

"We all know what is and is not appropriate for the workplace."

“或许除掉着装守则是一种考验，

旨在于揪出那些无法自己摸清

(Laughter)

And as a consequence, some people started to think,

什么是合适的人。“

"Maybe getting rid of the dress code is some kind of a test

实际上，该规范被去除后， 很多银行工作人士

to smoke out people who aren't savvy enough

to figure out what's appropriate all on their own."

开始遵照新的不成文着装守则，

它与之前的守则一样均一 亦或更加均一。

And in fact, a lot of people in banking, after these dress codes went away,

事实上，有与它相关的Instagram页 --

gravitated toward a new unwritten dress code

你们应该有看过这些人在城市走动吧？

名叫 “Midtown 制服” 的Instagram页 就与他们的着装有关。

that was equally, if not more, uniform.

In fact, there's an Instagram page --

虽然没有着装守则，

但大家都穿着一模一样的服装，

you've seen these guys walking around town, right?

因为他们生怕自己看似

There's an Instagram page about it called the Midtown Uniform.

不知道什么是合适或不合适的。

There's no dress code,

but everyone's wearing exactly the same thing

所以，

尝试假装我们不关心别人的穿着

out of fear of looking like someone

who doesn't know what is or is not appropriate.

却显然不然并不是答案。

So, you know,

让我们认清事实吧， 有时从别人的穿着

trying to pretend that we don't care about what people wear

得出结论是有道理的。

when we so obviously do isn't the answer.

但我们的第一反应通常以

And let's face it, sometimes it makes sense

to draw conclusions from what people are wearing.

刻板印象、潜意识的偏见

和有限的经验或视角为依据。

But our gut reactions are often informed by stereotypes

所以不管是制定着装守则 或者评价陌生人，

and subconscious biases

and limited experiences or limited perspectives.

让我们先试着检查自己持有的偏见 再打给时尚警察。

So whether it's writing a dress code or evaluating a stranger,

谢谢。

（掌声）

let's all try to check our biases before we call the fashion police.

Thanks.

(Applause)