Everyone wears clothes. Everyone needs clothes. The type and style of clothing that a person chooses is a reflection of his or her personality and the lifestyle they live. Few people consider what was involved in making the clothing available for them. Throughout history, there has been a direct relationship between clothing styles and the developments in clothing creation.
Prior to the Industrial Revolution, clothing was not easy to make. “For the most part, families made their own clothing by hand from fabric they made or purchased locally” (Tailoring). Not only was it time consuming to sew the items by hand, but also the weaving of the cloth was considerably labor intensive. As a result of this difficulty, clothing was limited in variety and detail. The styles worn were oversized, belted tunics or robes made from large pieces of cloth (Tailoring). Theses items were not complicated, yet met the needs of the people. The average person had no need for high fashion and owning one or two choices would suffice.
During the Civil War, fabric was manufactured but most of the items of clothing were sewn by hand in homes. When the war began and
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“Single and married women found themselves in new relationships to domestic life, work life, and fashion” (Ready Made). When a woman spent her days in the home focusing on domestic tasks, her clothing had to be functional and style was not important; as she began working outside of the home in the business arena, style, variety and choice took a higher priority. An additional consideration was the fact that women were spending less time in the home and, therefore, not available to meet personal sewing needs. “American women began to accept ready-made merchandise as convenient and affordable” and earned the necessary wages to make the purchases (Ready Made). Manufactured clothing met the needs for style and