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Kate Korte
The existing literature on dress codes is mostly silent regarding legislative assemblies. Previous research has instead tended to focus on other institutions, such as schools or medical settings. To address this gap, this article provides an in-depth examination into the existing dress codes of Canadian parliaments and their practical applications. The author suggests that dress codes engrain gender norms around professional dress and maintain the standard for parliamentarians as a man in a suit jacket and tie. The jacket and tie aspect of dress codes is the most frequently enforced and long held. The expectations for women’s attire and Indigenous, cultural, or traditional attire have been added on and are less frequently enforced. Such dress codes uphold a vision of a politician as a man in a suit and tie which conversely restricts the attire options for men and potentially those that are non-binary. Therefore, the author argues that dress codes present barriers to the full accommodation of gender and cultural diversity in legislative assemblies. *The online version of this article has been adjusted to correct or clarify some information related to Indigenous attire in the territorial legislative assemblies
