Inspired by this threadabout how hard it is to find clothing that fits when you’re not a ‘standard’ size, I was wondering, how long ago was it that the average person would have their clothes made to measure, as opposed to buying from a shop ‘off the rack’?
The average person never had clothes that were made-to-measure, unless you include those being made by a wife or mother or sister or themselves made-to-measure.
Clothing stores with standard sizes appear in the mid-19th century and many of those quickly grew into department stores. The flood of eastern and southern European immigrants in the last part of the 19th century included many tailors. In some cases this produced a situation opposite to what we’re accustomed to, in that lower-class men would go to the tailor in their neighborhood because that would be cheaper than going to a department store aimed at the middle class. And most men would own at least one suit, although that’s also probably a 19th century custom.
As wages grew, stores became relatively cheaper over the 20th century. And tailors’ kids could find better jobs so they didn’t stay in the business. But by the time the U.S. became predominately middle-class after WWII, the average man no longer wore suits every day so there was no need to get them tailored in the first place.
I recall a conversation with a professor of history where he discussed this point. Standard sizes were invented during the US Civil War when suddenly the army had to cloth and shoe hundreds of thousands in short order. They developed a series of standard sizes and had factories produce to these sizes. This was so much cheaper than individually hand-made clothing that the concept took off, and factories set up to clothe the army adapted to civilian styles.
Apparently, one major change - the legendary army boots were born in that process too - they were not even left and right, but just a generic sole and upper sewn together in various sizes. This changed quickly to properly shaped, better fitting left and right shoes.
I assume mail order companies like Sears took this product and used the railroad to deliver custom factory clothing to customers wherever the railroad went.
The podcast that’s linked to in that thread actually goes into this a little. (I’m at work now so I can’t doublecheck what I’m about to say, but if you listen to it you’ll get the real story. :)) Basically the Civil War is what kickstarted the movement to standardized sizing for men, and women’s sizing got standardized around the 1920s. So prior to that, people were usually getting their clothes tailor- or home-made.
Edit: Here’s the direct link to the podcast (mp3 format)
Very interesting, thanks!