Statute Concerning Diet and Apparel 1363

A Statute Concerning Diet and Apparel (37 Edw. 3. cc. 1, 3 - 19) (Latin: Statut' de Victu et Vestitu) was a sumptuary law introduced by the Parliament of England 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.

Act of Apparel 1363

Act of Parliament
Parliament of England
Long title	A Statute Concerning Diet and Apparel.
Citation	37 Edw. 3. cc. 1, 3 - 19
Territorial extent	England and Wales Ireland
Dates
Repealed	10 August 1872
Other legislation
Amended by	Forestalling, Regrating, etc. Act 1844 Statute Law Revision Act 1863 Civil Procedure Acts Repeal Act 1879
Repealed by	Statute Law (Ireland) Revision Act 1873
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

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, caused by the consolidation of property following the drop in population and the considerable rises in wages which liberated many previously bonded labourers.^[1]

Legacy

The act was extended to Ireland by Poynings' Law 1495 (10 Hen. 7. c. 22 (I)).

The whole act was repealed for England and Wales by section 1 of, and the schedule to, the Statute Law Revision Act 1863 (26 & 27 Vict. c. 125) and for Ireland by section 1 of, and the schedule to, the Statute Law (Ireland) Revision Act 1872 (35 & 36 Vict. c. 98).