Preview

Ready-Made Clothing: Civil War, The Industrial Revolution, And The Renaissance

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
631 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Ready-Made Clothing: Civil War, The Industrial Revolution, And The Renaissance
Ebonie Sydnor
Mr.Mulhern
Freshman English
6 October 2014
Ready-Made Clothing Informative Essay
The style, the fit, and the fashion of clothing has varied from different periods of time. The development of clothing evolved due to the American Civil War. As the war matured, manufacturers fabricated factories that would eventually meet the growing demand of the military, quickly and efficiently. The Civil War, the Industrial Revolution, and the Renaissance, all have impacted the meaning of clothing. Because of this, we no longer have to worry about ready-made apparel in predetermined sizes.
Even though, the Civil War, the Industrial Revolution, and the Renaissance played a big part of the meaning of clothing, the Civil War started it all off with the military causing men’s ready-made clothing. Because of the high demands for unlimited sizes, mass-producing uniforms was a desideratum for the development of standard sizes. The war created the first commercial sizing scale for men. Since they prognosticated, “measurements taken of soldiers displayed certain sets of measurements tended to recur with predictable regularity.” (par.1) This caused coats, undergarments, and jackets not only available in sizes but already predicted. If the Civil War didn’t exist the meaning of clothing
…show more content…
The Industrial Revolution caused clothes to be made or worn differently and expanding practice cultures. Polynesians usually spent hours bashing Earth’s nature such as plant fibers and tree bark into tapa cloth. In Scotland fabrics showed clan affiliation called tartans. Hawaiians, took the praxis on ecclesiastical significance and were conducted only in sacred places. “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.” (par.4) Clearly, I can infer that the economy increased tremendously within the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    As mentioned earlier, clothes were typically handmade by tailors, as well as individuals or home family members. This changed after the Civil War, when most soldier uniforms “were custom-made in workers’ homes under government contract” (Source 1). Manufacturers started to build factories, which meant uniforms no longer had to be custom-made. As stated by Source 1, the factories “were able to make uniforms for a fraction of the cost of home sewers.” Because of this, the output of uniforms, and clothing in general, were exceptionally met the military’s and public’s needs. Furthermore, the measurements of the soldiers began to show a pattern. This pattern showed similar ratios and body structures among most men. Source 1 explains it best by illustrating how these measurements created “the first commercial sizing scales for men” and how these “ratios persist in names of fits and cuts in men’s suits, shirts and denim jeans.” In contrast, all women had many different body factors to account for when making clothing. To further add to the problem, manufacturers each had their “own unique...sizing system” which were “based on inaccurate...or no body data at all.” This problem was eventually fixed by a standardized sizing system for all companies, but not before many sent back clothes and refunds. As time progressed, even though ready-made clothes lacked variety in tailor-made clothes, ready-made clothes were much cheaper and led to the creation of today’s retail market; however, it does not end…

    • 892 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Imagine living in a society where your social and economic rank determined the type of clothing you could wear. Quite frankly, I would not have survived in a society that dictated what I can or cannot wear. I would feel suppressed, as if someone was taking away my freedom. I strongly believe that what we wear defines us more than we think. In other words, fashion is an expression of who we are as an individual. However, this was not the case during the medieval period. The clothing in medieval Europe was dictated by the Pyramid of Power or a feudal system. Fashion during the medieval period was not just only about clothing, rather it dealt with economic…

    • 619 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Before the Industrial Revolution, most families made their clothes themselves. Clothes had a special meaning to these people as told in Passage 2, "part of this practice took on a religious significance and was conducted in sacred spaces. Fabric itself could be very meaningful." The fabric was difficult to make, and as a result, was very expensive. Since the fabric was expensive, most cultures had a robe that was common among people, since robes wasted less fabric. There was no such thing as a zipper or even a button, so clothes were harder to get on and keep on. Clothes were not replaceable, they got handed down to each person in a family and merely got mended, to help save the money they didn't have.…

    • 373 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    These were used as decoration inside or outside of their best hats. Women wore linen garments called loose shifts. Over the shifts they wore long dresses. The dresses had two parts; the bodice and the skirt. Women in the 17th century did not wear pants. All clothing was homemade, and made by the women. Most women only owned about 2-4 outfits. The clothing was all hand-sewn and made of either wool or linen. Women’s clothing had to cover the woman's knees and elbows. Because of the belief that bathing was dangerous, clothing wasn’t washed. Often clothes such as a gown, might never be washed! Most colonists from New England wore simple attire except for the rich. Rich wore fancy clothing and anyone that wasn’t rich and dressed in fancy clothes would be fined and put in jail. Even simple decorations like buttons were considered to fancy and instead Pilgrims and Puritans used strings. Women and girls wore aprons and it was considered inappropriate for a woman or girl to wear anything…

    • 971 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Of the many rules that members of a social group had to follow, clothing played an important part in displaying one’s social status. The King and high-ranking nobility used bright colors and fancy decorations with precious stones, while common soldiers were allowed to wear plain mantles.…

    • 510 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Clothing that was worn into the cotton fields often tore into shreds before the next clothing distribution. Despite their status, slaves took pride in their appearance. Although their owner’s provided them with the cheapest of fabrics, they often made repairs and added notions to exhibit self-expression in their manner of dress. Any scraps of fabric that were available were used to make repairs when necessary and offered a rare chance for slaves to adorn their otherwise uniform allotments. Slaves spent their free time gathering any materials that they could find to mend their clothing.…

    • 1627 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    How people dressed during the sixteenth century was usually a good measure of their social class. In these times there were many changes in fashion, a lot of things were changing in this time period.In the early in the sixteenth century, the fashions that were most often seen were clothes that had a softer fabric like long flowing gowns, and by the end of the century the fashion…

    • 870 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Uniformity of a Leader

    • 898 Words
    • 4 Pages

    a. AR 670-1 Paragraph 1-7a, Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Isignia 03 February 2005…

    • 898 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The advancements in the textile industry during the Industrial Revolution led to positive economic changes in Great Britain. In Document 1, the first picture shows clothing being made in a home by skilled clothing manufacturers. This was known as a domestic system where goods were made in the home. However everything started to change when inventions…

    • 751 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    No longer did professional men have their clothes made by the main street tailors like William Shaw.. Those merchants once took your measurements and their many seamstresses made your suit. Baby boomers didn't remember Shake McDiarmind offering a free pair of suspenders with a new suit- nor did they care.…

    • 956 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Native Americans had the earliest experiences with textile-making in North America. Dating back to the 1600's, they showed the English settlers how to make fishing nets using a process of cord wrapping. Over time, the Native Americans grew to depend on European trade materials or imports. By 1640, the production of handmade textiles, such as woven, knitted, and embroidered material began. In these early American times, Colonial textiles made an appearance as well.…

    • 960 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Medieval Nobles Essay

    • 1421 Words
    • 6 Pages

    What would you choose to wear if you had absolutely every article of clothing to choose from in your closet, tailored especially to fit you? Probably not a 45-inch tall hennin or a coat trimmed with 2,790 ermine pelts, which was exactly what wealthy medieval nobles saw as “fashionable.” The extravagance of the medieval European nobles made an everlasting impact on history, and their fashion evolved over the course of time. Although most of their clothing were wearable year-round, wealthy nobles had differently fashioned and fabricated clothing according to the seasons. The outrageous spendings of the nobles extended far beyond their outfit choice, and into the fashioning of apparel and accessories from expensive and exotic materials. These…

    • 1421 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the american revolution, generally, many people did not dress as we would today. They didn’t wear short skirts and tank tops, or sneakers and caps. But instead they wore long pants, to protect their legs from mosquitoes and large hats to save them from the sun. Back then, they considered this fashionable, yet healthy to wear. Soldiers would unfortunately not get the opportunity to wear this clothing, but the suppliers of it, are free to all day. In some ways, clothing in the 1700’s was similar to those of now. We still wear jeans, but usually just because it’s cold, not to prevent disease. We also wear hats, and for all the same reason. To block out the sun, and also, hats can be pretty stylish.…

    • 681 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The textile industry was the very first industry to be advanced. Before the revolution, cloth was typically woven at home, which would take long hours a day to do. With the creation of these new inventions, cloth was made much faster which led to a boost in merchants' profits. Industrial Revolution Research explains the textile industry during the industrial revolution, “The demand for cloth continued to rise, so merchants had to be in competition with others for their supplies to make it. This caused a problem for the consumers because the products were now at a much higher cost. The best solution was to try to use machinery, which was cheaper to sell then products that were made by hand (because they took a long time to create), therefore…

    • 1852 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    1930s Women

    • 761 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The government had the power to ration materials and dictate what companies could make. This narrowed the variety of fashion significantly. People also lacked money due to the Great Depression in the 1930s, so it was difficult to buy fancy clothes. Even though women limited their spending on clothing, fashion was still a prominent aspect of being a woman in the 1940s. During this time, “utility” dresses, plain dresses with natural waistline and an A line skirt, became very popular. Women wore these dresses anywhere: for errands, going to the movies, and other daily activities. The “utility” dress acknowledged that women had more responsibilities and greater importance in society. In fact, women started to have more choices in fashion as seen by the acceptance of slacks on women. Up until the 1940s women were discouraged from wearing pants because it was seen as unfeminine. Because of the rationed materials in the country, corsets for women were discouraged. Not only did women gain freedom in society by wearing pants and no corsets, but they also gained physical freedom. Women were no longer constrained by tight undergarments or by having to be modest and careful with their skirts. However, when the men returned after the war and during the 1950s, women’s fashion changed to a dramatic, feminine…

    • 761 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays