We will argue that all societies create systems of classification and are reinforced by all facets of life, including fashion. Within the Byzantine Empire, clothing was used to distinguish between the nobility, middle class, clergy and the lower class as well as ethnicity and political and social views. By accentuating divisions between these class structures, it becomes apparent by only a glance of the wearer’s social rank. Unlike in the Roman Empire, where strict laws determined what people of different social classes could wear, the quality of Byzantine dress was limited only by the ability of the wearer to pay for it.
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