ABSTRACT
This chapter draws analogies between costume and architecture expatiating on the word costume, which is etymologically related to custom, habit, demeanor, disposition, external appearance and character. It talks about the concealment of the expression of a client’s character and status by diverting it to the interior by the blandness of modern architecture’s external dress due to its disapproval of obtrusive ornaments similarly observed in the modern suit. This is unlike earlier styles of architecture, such as Classical, Gothic, Baroque and Romanesque, where the expressive character is borne outwardly as well as inwardly - an idea that proliferated in eighteenth-century France and in the discourse of architecture parlante. This overt expression, on certain occasions, was muted during the modern era once the idea of concealment in modern architecture’s dress materialized, which was publicized by Adolf Loos’ 1908 essay, “Ornament and Crime.” Loos did not reject the use of ornament in buildings but diverted it to the interior of his residential buildings to preserve the individuality and character of the inhabitants.
