Restrictive, gendered dress codes have been getting attention around the world over the last few years.
Stories of girls and women being asked to leave schools, malls and other places due to their 'inappropriate' clothing are rife. But, thankfully, women aren't standing for it anymore.
Specifically, the women of Washington D.C. who recently protested some rather archaic dress rules.
You may have heard that two weeks ago, a handful of political reporters were not let into the House Lobby because they were wearing sleeveless shirts or dresses.
To give you some statistics, we are currently in 2017 and the weather was 28 degrees celsius.
It was reported at the time by CBS that a female reporter who could not get in tore some pages out of her notebook and stuffed them into her arm holes, but still was not allowed access.
Another female reporter confirmed she was not let in back in May.
However, she made a joke out of it, and did not think that the rules were harmful.
Not everyone shared her belief, however, and many saw these rejections, which are apparently based on 'unwritten' rules which only stipulate clothing to be 'business appropriate', as archaic and an example of sexism in the workplace.
In June Paul House Speaker Paul Ryan reminded the House of the dress code.
The Daily Dot reports that, 'House Speaker Paul Ryan, in the role of school principal, is in charge of enforcing the rules how he sees fit. For him, inappropriate attire for women includes open-toe shoes and shoulder-baring clothes.'
The people of social media where not happy with this sentiment, there were plenty of articles decrying the stance and many took to Twitter to express their anger.
During Ryan's weekly press conference on Thursday, he responded to the criticism saying that the rules may need to be modernised, explaining, 'A dress code in the chamber and in the lobby makes sense, but we also don't need to bar otherwise accepted contemporary business attire. Look for a change on that soon.'
This came a day after Republican Representative Martha McSally apparently denounced the code while speaking on the House floor.
'Before I yield back, I want to point out I'm standing here in my professional attire, which happens to be a sleeveless dress and open-toed shoes,' she said.
The women of Washington also had their say in the form of sartorial protest.
After Ryan's press conference, Representative Jackie Speier Tweeted her plans for 'Sleeveless Friday' , telling the her peers, 'Calling on all Members of Congress to join me tomorrow on the House Floor for #SleevelessFriday because women have the right to bare arms!'
Lo and behold on the balmy Friday her fellow Congresswomen turned up, arms and all to give their support.
Can you say #armspo?
Speier even confirmed that some male allies in Congress showed up in short sleeves as a show of solidarity.
Hopefully Ryan will take note (as it looks like he's set to do), since we're kind of tired of women's education and livelihood being stymied by the amount fabric on their body.
Daisy Murray is the Digital Fashion Editor at ELLE UK, spotlighting emerging designers, sustainable shopping, and celebrity style. Since joining in 2016 as an editorial intern, Daisy has run the gamut of fashion journalism - interviewing Molly Goddard backstage at London Fashion Week, investigating the power of androgynous dressing and celebrating the joys of vintage shopping.
