A Statute Concerning Diet and Apparel (''37 Edw. III c. 1, 3 - 19'') was a

sumptuary law Sumptuary laws (from Latin ''sūmptuāriae lēgēs'') are laws that try to regulate consumption. '' Black's Law Dictionary'' defines them as "Laws made for the purpose of restraining luxury or extravagance, particularly against inordinate expendi ...

introduced by the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised t ...

in 1363. It was one of a series of laws over a couple of centuries that form what are known as the Acts of Apparel. The Act detailed the style of dress that people of each class were allowed to wear. It was created to tackle a burgeoning trend for the lower classes to wear similar fashion to the elite. This was triggered by the sudden rise in personal wealth that followed the

Black Death The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...

, caused by the consolidation of property following the drop in population and the considerable rises in wages which liberated many previously bonded labourers.

References

External links

* http://www.the-tudors.org.uk/tudor-sumptuary-laws.htm History of clothing (Western fashion) Clothing controversies Medieval English law Acts of the Parliament of England 1360s in law 1363 in England {{England-statute-stub