Women's Ready-Made Clothing During The Civil War

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Read the ?Clothing Over Time? passage set.

Clothing Over Time

Source 1: Ready-Made Clothing

by National Institute of Standards and Technology

f1. The Civil War was a pivotal event in the historical development of men?s ready-made

clothing. At the outset of the Civil War, most uniforms were custom made in workers? homes under

government contract. As the war continued, however, manufacturers started to build factories that could

quickly and efficiently meet the growing demands Before the American Civil War, ready-made apparel

existed but its variety was limited. Coats,

Jackets and undergarments were only available in predetermined sizes. Most clothing was made by tailors,

by individuals, or by their family members at

home.f the military. These factories were able to make
uniforms for a fraction of the cost of home sewers. Mass-producing uniforms necessitated the development
of standard sizes. Measurements taken of soldiers revealed that certain sets of measurements tended to
recur with predictable regularity. There were certain ratios of shoulder to waist measurements that occurred
more frequently than others.

After the war, these measurements were used to create the first commercial

sizing scales for men. Today these ratios persist in names of fits and cuts in men?s suits, shirts, and denim

jeans. A men?s store might offer a slim fit, a classic fit and a relaxed fit to suit various tastes and body

types.

2. The mass production of women?s clothing developed more slowly. Women?s outfits were

Generally custom-made well into the 1920s. At that point a number of factors came together to

contribute to the success of the women?s ready-made apparel industry. New industrial production

techniques were developed, driving supply, and the advertising industry rose in prominence, driving

sales. Most importantly, demand was created in the form of the rising urban professional class.

Single and married women found themselves in new relationships to domestic life, work life, and

fashion. Many spent less time in the home and all associated hand-made clothes with an older,

more rural lifestyle. They no longer shopped at the town?s general store for bolts of calico fabric.

Chain stores and mail order catalogs offered multiple ways to access the new clothes. Ready-made

articles

of
clothing were portrayed as modern and fashionable, if not sturdy. The new consumer industries
were rapidly redefining the way Americans viewed mass-manufactured goods. The purchase of
mass-produced clothing was sometimes seen as a loss of individuality. However, American women
began to accept ready-made merchandise as convenient and affordable.

They were up-to-date

fashion items that could be easily replaced as styles changed. Making clothes more quickly meant

styles did change more frequently as well. It took far less time for a designer to sketch a pattern and

have an item made than ever before.

3. However, the new ready-made clothing often fit poorly. A tailor might take two dozen

measurements when making a men?s suit. For example, determining the distance from the base of

the neck to the middle of the shoulders is critical for an exact fit. Women?s clothes are less

straightforward and early male pattern makers did not know where to begin. Each manufacturer

created its own unique and sometimes arbitrary sizing system. These systems were based on

inaccurate body data or no body data at all. Different manufacturers frequently labeled garments of

widely different dimensions the same size. This situation resulted in additional expenses for

alterations. It also meant large volumes of returned merchandise. This meant more work for the

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consumer or tailor and for shop clerks and mail-order catalogues. It also meant overall increased

costs for the consumer of ready-to-wear clothing. It was not until 1937 that the U.S. Department

of
Agriculture considered conducting a study of women?s body measurements. They helped to create
a standardized sizing system the entire industry could follow. Not all modern companies follow the
same size chart but nearly all have standardized which types of measurements determine their
sizes. If a woman knows just three measurements she can order from almost any retailer in the
world.

?Ready-Made Clothing? adapted from ?Standardization of Women?s Clothing: Short History of Ready-Made Clothing? by National Institute
of Standards and Technology, at http://museum.nist.gov/exhibits/apparel/ history.htm.

Source 2: Tailoring

4. Clothes before the Industrial Revolution were made and worn very differently than they are
now. For the most part, families made their own clothing by hand from fabric they made or
purchased locally. Fabric was intricate and time-consuming to make. As a result it was a highly
prized commodity. Merchants made their wealth in transporting fine fabrics and threads. In places
like Scotland, fabrics called tartans showed clan affiliation. Polynesians spent hours beating plant
fibers and tree bark into tapa cloth. For Hawaiians, part of this practice took on religious significance
and was conducted in sacred spaces. Before mass production, fabric itself?the finished product as
well as the process?could be very meaningful. While time, effort, and money were put into making
or obtaining fabric, creating a garment was much less complicated. Almost every culture had some
version of a tied robe or tunic?essentially, a loose fabric that draped and was secured by a belt,
pin, or sash. In the Middle Ages such ties and belts helped Europeans to keep improperly fitted
clothes secure on their bodies. Most clothes, especially those of the lower and middle classes,
would be considered very oversized by modern standards. They were generally made out of one or
two pieces of cloth to minimize waste.

5. With the Renaissance?s changes in art and society came more fitted clothes. These
garments

were made by sewing several pieces of fabric together. The wealthy had clothes made by tailors,
who often customized their own patterns. But without closures like zippers and buttons, people
often had to be sewn into their clothes! Laces and corsets eventually solved some of these
problems, but it was still incredibly difficult to get dressed back then. By the 17th century, crafting
and tailoring of Western clothing required more and more skill as designs became more complex.
Intricate scenes of animals or flowers were embroidered by hand. They took hours to complete and
were a sign of the wearer?s wealth. Gemstones might be sewn onto the collar or sleeve of a very
fine garment. A fine cloth was only as good as its cut and decoration and a man or woman could
make their fortune on the strength of these designs. At the height of the 18th century, French
fashion garments were truly works of art. They took days and dozens of hands to complete, with
each person contributing hours of specialized skill. The materials themselves came from miles
away; some (like silk) even came from other countries!

6. Eventually political and social movements led to much more restrained and practical
clothing.

As embellishments and flashy fabrics fell out of use even among aristocrats, fit became increasingly
more important in the 19th and 20th centuries. Instead of voluminous tunics or pants that tied, men

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began to wear suits. While suspenders were used for many years, pants had to fit accurately.
Women wore trimmer dresses with buttons that allowed for more fitted looks. They put aside
petticoats meant to give skirts more volume and many favored flowing looks over corseted ones.
Clothing became a natural extension of the body rather than its decoration or disguise. Countries
like England became renowned for their tailors and the wealthy traveled to have their clothes made.
Tailoring was still expensive and not an option for all. Making a single coat might require several
trips to the tailor,

difficult for those who lived far away. The wealthy could travel into town or across provinces to
attend several fittings a month. It was much less expensive to make clothing in the home and, if you
could afford it, have a tailor help with the more complicated portions. Most often family members
were each other?s tailors, pinning and hemming in the home. While simple fabrics were much less
expensive than before, clothes were still altered, mended, and handed down as children grew.
Clothing was still not seen as replaceable or disposable. Eventually ready-made clothing would be
available, but that brought its own set of problems. It would be several decades until fitted,
comfortable clothing was truly affordable.

?Tailoring? written for educational purposes.

Source 3: Advancements in Modern Clothing by Anthony Kazanjian

7. Rapid advancements in computer technology during the late 20th and early 21st centuries
have given today?s fashion designers unprecedented freedom to express their creativity. In previous
generations, garments were designed by hand, using pencil sketches and traditional math-based
pattern sizing. Today, designers often have computer-aided design (CAD) software at their disposal
to determine textile weaves and sizing designs. CAD software allows them to view designs of
clothing on virtual models of various shapes and sizes. This makes for a much more efficient
garment design process, saving companies both time and resources that would have otherwise
been spent on manually creating and adjusting prototypes.

8. The impact of CAD software on everyday clothing is becoming more prevalent as the
software

is linked to 3-D printing technology. While other industries, such as aerospace or architecture, have
been using this technology for decades, it has now started to spread to the world of fashion.
Designers have been experimenting with 3-D printed apparel, and this could revolutionize the
experience of buying clothes for the average consumer. For example, a swimwear company can
now offer custom-designed bathing suits on its website, using nylon and a 3-D printer to print out
each order to a customer?s body shape and measurements. In addition to the use of 3-D printers by
industry specialists, machines for home printing are becoming more and more affordable. If this
trend continues, it will allow consumers to print out objects like bracelets in a matter of minutes from
the comfort of their homes. Though it may be a while before anyone can print out his or her own
complete wardrobe, the ability to create customized clothing is becoming more of a reality as
technology evolves. One day, we may all be wearing our own one-of-a-kind, perfectly tailored
clothes.

?Advancements in Modern Clothing? by Anthony Kazanjian written for educational purposes.

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