本文以十六世紀英格蘭的服飾法為主要研究對象。過去這類法律多列在「禁奢法」之下討論，但禁奢法內容涵蓋甚廣，本文僅討論禁奢法中與約制穿著有關者，並獨列一類為「服飾法」。英格蘭服飾法的數量在十六世紀達到高峰，但大多數法條因執行成效不佳，徒具形式，不過本文將這些法律內容視為「論述」，跳脫其執行成效的困境，轉求服飾法所代表的諸多意涵。本文的研究包含三個面向，分別是：服飾法頒布的動機、服飾法推行的目標、服飾法所彰顯的政治、社會與文化意義。本文以各次服飾法的「序言」為基礎，分述服飾法頒布的五項動機，解釋服飾法在十六世紀大量增加的原因，並指出這些動機的共同特徵在追求良善秩序。在目標面，本研究則以具體的法條為主要材料，指出都鐸時期服飾法中，階級等第的劃分變化最多，其主要目標在建立社會區隔，維護一套確實可信的「社會識別」系統。最後，本文在意義面指出，服飾法不僅能反映社會經濟結構的變化，也可以看出都鐸政府的統治思維與統治特色。更重要的是，它凸顯了服飾在近代早期文化中所扮演的角色。

This article investigates the nature of the clothing laws of Tudor England. State control of dress has long been studied as a facet of sumptuary laws, but this article deals only with those sumptuary regulations concerning “apparel” and therefore terms them “clothing laws.” Regulation of clothing was evidently well developed during the Tudor period, when England enacted many more statutes concerning apparel than had appeared in the medieval period, and published numerous proclamations against the “excess of apparel.” But the failure of the enforcement of such regulations has presented historians with a major problem in explaining the importance of clothing laws, as well as other sumptuary legislation. This article therefore considers these laws as a “discourse” that reflected the transformation of economy and society, as well as the government’s vision of the social order; and thus they possessed great political and cultural significance in early modern England. This research on clothing laws highlights three themes: motivations, goals, and significance. By reading the “preambles” of every clothing law, this article finds five motivations behind this legislation, arguing that the pursuit of order was the state’s primary motive. Then, the article investigates the ordinances and penalties of Tudor clothing statutes and proclamations to find their specific goals, suggesting that these laws particularly aimed to achieve “social distinction” through a clothing hierarchy and to preserve a reliable system of “social recognizability.” Finally, this article shows how Tudor clothing laws reflected changes in the economic and social structure of the sixteenth century, the means and mentality of state control of order, and more importantly, the role of clothing in early modern culture.

禁奢法；服飾法；王室詔令；社會秩序；社會區隔

1898 reform movement