Civil War Clothing Dbq

efore the Civil War, most clothing was made by hand, whether it was made by tailors or people at home. There wasn’t a large selection or large variety to choose from. Some clothing was only available in predetermined sizes. Today, the way clothing is made is way different than what it used to be. Now, we have a different variety of styles and sizes to choose from. We don’t have to make our own or get others to do it for us. We can go to different stores and choose whatever we want.

Clothing for women was custom-made although women’s clothing “developed more slowly.” (Source 1) Women accepted ready-made clothing because it was more affordable. Instead of going to general stores, they used catalogs to look for more “modern and fashionable”

Most people made the fabric by hand, “Polynesians spent hours beating plant fibers and tree bark into tapa cloth.” (Source 2) The difference between then and now is that people back then worked very hard for their clothing while we don’t have to lift a finger for what we have. It’s so easy for us to go to a local store or the mall and we can choose from a variety of clothes based on what our style is and what we are interested in while back then, people had to work for theirs and they didn’t have brands or a large variety of different types to choose from. Fabric was also expensive and more meaningful than what it is now. People had put in a lot of time and money to make the fabric by

By the 18th century, French fashion garments were more detailed and even more work was put into the process to create it, “They took days and dozens of hands to complete, with each person contributing hours of specialized skill.” (Source 2) For the wealthy, getting clothes tailored was much easier, in England, “the wealthy could travel into town or across provinces to attend several fittings a month.” (Source 2) For the people who weren’t as wealthy, it was a challenge for them if they needed something fixed because it wasn’t as easy for them to travel as far. In the long run, “it would be several decades until fitted, comfortable clothing was truly affordable.” (Source