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”

(Source 1) clothes. The styles were up to date and changed as new styles came along. One problem with the ready-made clothing was that sometimes the fitting wouldn’t be right. “This situation resulted in additional expenses for alterations.” (Source 1) Manufacturers often put the wrong sizes on some clothing. This situation caused costs to raise and tailors to work even harder to fix their mistakes. Because of this problem, the “U.S. Department of Agriculture considered conducting a study of women’s body measurements” (Source 1) and also made a sizing system that everyone could follow.

Back then, the way people wore clothing was way different than now.

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

hand.

As time goes by, tailors then have more detailing and by the 17th century, tailors began to need “more skill as designs became more complex.” (Source 2) People on the rich side usually wanted gemstones or lace sewn into their clothes and it often took tailors hours at a time to make it.

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

2)

In the 20th and 21st century, computer technology came in, making it much easier for clothing to be created. It’s easier because “today, designers often have computer-aided design software at their disposal to determine textile weaves and sizing designs” (Source 3) The creation of clothing has come a long way, from hand-made fabric and pencil sketches to sewing machines and factories, it has become easier and easier as time goes by. Also, clothing now is more affordable and people don’t have to travel long distances to get their clothes re-tailored. Now, with this technology, measurements can be more precise and less money can be spent from “manually creating and adjusting prototypes.” (Source 3) Also, we can now shop online as well as going to stores for our clothes. Another thing that was introduced in the 21st century is 3-D printers. Using this are also easier to “print out each order to a customer’s body shape and measurements.” (Source 3)

It’s easy to say we have come a long way when it comes to clothing. From hand-made designs and ready-made to the technology we have now to make the process so much easier. Only time can tell how things will change for the near future, as it has already changed so much. Now, instead of traveling long distances for re-tailoring, people can shop online and pick what they want and instead of having clothes be tailored by hand. Overall, it’s pretty cool to see how far things come along and how things change to be easier on others and to better us and the process on certain situations.