Abstract:
At Duke University, a dress code did exist at one point and by looking directly at the dress code it is possible to analyze the overall goals and control the university has exerted, the ways the dress code has changed, and the implications of those changes. It is interesting to look at the reasons why the rules existed and what they accomplished because information about perceptions and power struggles as well as age and gender relations can be discovered. It is most useful to look at different time periods in Duke’s history and, in doing so, use the specific details to make general observations and compare them. The first time period that will be looked at is the years of The Woman’s College, 1930-1963. The second time period, from 1963-1970, will be analyzed next. Breaking the time periods at 1963 is of particular importance because this is the last year that the Social Standards Committee produced their pamphlet documenting the dress code. This was a student-run branch of the Woman’s Student Government Association that was specifically interested in promoting “good taste and gracious living on
campus.” One of their specific tasks was to produce a pamphlet for each incoming class which was initially called “It’s not in the Handbook” and later changed to “Design for a Duchess”. In these guides, there are pages devoted to the wardrobe of a “duchess” describing the appropriate dress for different kinds of activities. Later on, after the Social Standards board no longer exists, there is an obvious break from a traditional dress code. The students’ behavior starts to change which is apparent when analyzing the lack of documented dress policy, the changing pictorial documentation, and mostly the documentation, through the Woman’s College records, of rebellion from the students.
