Home in alexandria. Speciale gruber is a exhibition curator for the foundation. She earned her bachelor of arts in Historic Preservation from the university of mary and washington. She contributes to the development of permanent galleries at the museum in yorktown including the signature film liberty fever. Whichveloped exhibitions i highly encourage you to go see. Soldier forgotten africanamericans in the revolution. Ate will present please welcome my good friend, kate gruber. Katherine good afternoon. You have to get through me before you can get to happy hour. I promise that will happen with as much alacrity as possible. All right. Mark twain said it best, as he usually does, clothing makes a man. Little people have little naked people have little to no influence on society. He said the more i learn about people, the more i like my dog. Maybe we should not exactly take his word for it. Also, he dressed like this. [applause] [laughter] katherine why dont we go to the british author robert campbell, who wrote no man is therant that a tailor is one who makes our clothes. Man,ort, clothing makes and in the 18th century, people really had a relationship with their clothing. A knowledge of the tradesmen, seamstresses, enslaved africans, and others. This was very true for alexandria, virginia, on the eve of the revolution. They were part of a world that defined itself by adherence to strict social hierarchies and orders. Clothing and textile consumption prevented a unique dichotomy which, as we shall see, was based on choice and nature of ailorslors trade t trade. A city on the eve of revolution. Our time machine is the only known surviving account spoke from that. From the period. Can anyone hear me ok . I will try better. Aslizing this account book our guide, my goal this afternoon is to give you just a glimpse of prerevolutionary alexandria through the lens of how its residents acquired importantly, the lives they lived in their clothing. Hopefully, what will emerge is a more complete picture of the city on the eve of revolution and how the simple and everyday act of dressing had revolutionary consequences. Or at the very least, eliminating what some of alexandrias society wore to the revolution. We will get started right away. In residents of alexandria as a tailor from 1763 to 1782 i see only known surviving account book from a virginia tailor from this period. Records offer a unique insight, a world in which alexandrians were deeply entrenched. Book had theunt names of many customers. His tailoring business flourished shortly after its founding when the Virginia House of burgesses, meeting at the college of william and mary, i invite Public Participation in this conversation. Thank you. The house of burgesses proposed ct for the county of fairfax. As a court town you guys are realizing i am preaching to the choir here. You know the history of your town alexandria thrived on exports and exports. They exported quite a lot of tobacco. Thecco and wheat across atlantic in exchange for other rum, sugar and luxuries. They operated stores and warehouses for spanish and english merchants who imported those goods across the atlantic and three english ports. Eventually, all of those goods made their way to alexandria and by 1770 six, the city had a population of just under 2000 inhabitants. Tot population would grow 5000 by 1800. The residents of alexandria were shipbuilders, carpenters, merchants, silversmiths, blacksmiths, gentry planters, and enslaved African Americans, tavern keepers, and white indentured servants. Many were immigrants from england and scotland and one of them was a tailor named William Carlin. I my mind, this is how imagined him for a really long time. I will let that sink in for a moment. Sort of middleaged. Short and maybe of a round figure. Given the recent movements towards handmade goods and things sourced from local materials, and now, of course, i have realized that carlin was roughly the same age as i am now, i am starting to picture him a little more like this. [laughter] katherine all right, well [laughter] katherine to be fair, how about that . Unfortunately, i have not been able to uncover too much about carlins life before he began his account book here. According to family histories, carlin was born in 1732 in yorkshire in england. He lived in london apparently before immigrating to virginia. I do not know yet whether he completed his apprenticeship as a tailor in england or in virginia. Probably in england. But he was 31 years old when he notations in an account book in 1763. By then, alexandria was a power base for emerging gentry who owned vast plantations on the citys periphery, including influential planters like George Washington and george mason, who lived within a few miles of the citys center. Scottish and english merchants set up shop in alexandria. They made up most of the citys population. Carlin is part of that. Carlins shop was located on the corner of king and royal streets. We get to walk right by it when we go to happy hour. Here is a handy little directional map for you. I spent some time last night saying hello. It is located next to a subway. I told my husband that is why he was so young and thin and not fat and bald, because he was on the jerry diet. You can see that carlins shop was very prominently located in the city its developing downtime. Customers really did not have to travel too far to visit the shop from the places where they themselves worked or lived. Of the customers in carlins account book, where i have identified where they lived, no one was actually more than one mile away from harlans tailor shop, and that includes george mason, who george owned a townhouse. And George Washingtons townhouse is less than half a street,y at 508 cameron which is i guess up north, which is not on the map but would be just off the map here. Merchants and tradesmen like carlin were crucial links to gentry planters like mason and washington who needed these that, these luxury items, would provide props for their social performance of dominance. Carlin supplied the men of alexandria with many of these props that they needed to perform this act, but the account book reveals that the customers who patronize carlins shop were a reduction of the democratic reflection of the demographics alcohol. Before we can fully comprehend all of that, we need to talk a little bit about the relationship of the tailor to his clientele in the form of the amply coined art and mystery of the tailors trade. [laughter] katherine this is important. When George Washington we talked a lot about George Washington today when he ordered suits and lavery from his london tailor, he included the language that it must be made by measures taken of men as nearest size as you can judge. Are proportionately made. These are simple instructions that were essential communications to a tailor if you were expecting him to construct a handsewn, fitted garment. It is important to remember that until the very recent past, handsewn closing was not a luxury item. It is actually a simple fact of clothing construction. Until the mid19th century, handsewn remained the standard mode of production for any garment, whether it is a wealthy member of the gentry, a middling artisan, or be enslaved. Men and women in the 18th century were familiar with the needle and thread and they could probably make some simple repairs, maybe some Household Items and linens as well as older garments required the knowledge and skills of men and women who learned their trades through an apprenticeship with the master and tailor. Breaches, as breeches require the skills of a tailor to construct. It lay in his ability to fit, to measure, and cut garments for a man. This is just men here. I am talking about men being customers because women would go womens construction was completely different. These are just men and mens garments here with some exceptions. , the 18thcentury corset. Washington made marshall washingtons martha washingtons. They really needed to utilize the skills of a tailor at some point. Even the Virginia Company included a tailor in the First Expedition to jamestown and sent six more tailors to the colony 1608, making it second only to carpenters. That their predominant preoccupation was that we need more tailors, that says a lot. , but not to eating look good. All right. Upthat trend actually holds throughout the 18th century. In the virginia gazette, tailors advertisement makes up total trade mans advertisements from extant copies of the gazette. And third behind tutors doctors put in alexandria, a distribution of the cities tour occupations began from the mean 64 to 1800 and reveals 20 of local artisans were involved in the clothing craft, and just like in 17th century jamestown, it is second to those employed in the construction trade, so again, this is an important part of our everyday life and society, and this overwhelming number of tailors on the landscape speaks to their necessity in a society where individuals did not routinely make their own clothing, so why were tailors and their skills so important to communities like alexandria . According to one 18thcentury source, a tailor must be skillful enough to bestow a good shape where nature has not designed it. To accomplish this, a tailor needed to take systematic measurements across a mans body , very detailed measurements. So may i have a volunteer from the audience who knows french . There has got to be somebody. Thank you. I dont want to show this. Couldght, please, if you read the title of this book for me, please. [speaking french] [applause] [applause] thank you very much. You can see why i did not want to tackle that. I took latin. I am useless. Thank you for saving me from the embarrassment. This is the 1769 treatise on the art of tailoring and it chronicles 20 different measurements needed on a mans to have arder well cut suit. The author has written, in english, thankfully, a tailor must take the measurements of a person for whom the clothes are going to be made. A strip of paper, one inch wide of the requisite length is used. It is called a measure. It is placed on the body wherever the size is required and each measurement is marked on the measure by a snip of the scissors. These careful measurements ensured that the finished garment would fit the customer properly. The way garments fit a mans body was really as important as the fabric choice. George washingtons relationship with clothing provides a really cut and fitexplore even further. When washington sent orders for clothes to london tailors, he consistently noted his large size and lanky stature. He was the tallest in continental congress. We learned that today. He knew that these details were necessary in the construction of fitted clothing, so in an order for a seat, washington wrote let it be fit in other respects for a man. Sweet time and proportionately full six feet wide and proportionately made. He said he was not satisfied. I have hitherto had my clothes made by one Charles Lawrence in old fish street. Whether it is the fault of the tailor or the measures sent, but certain, my clothes have never fit me very well. To eradicate his own frustrations with poorly fitted garments, he turned to William Carlin. He brought toys that needed mending, breaches and seats that needed altering, which washington standing as his own model. Carlin could widen the breath of coats. Breadth of one day altering clothing to eches, so onc and so on. You will have to keep looking at washington. Was at the topon of alexandrias social ladder, so he did warn he warned his friends not to conceive that fine clothes make fine men. We have already seen that washington turned to carlin to otherhe mistake of tailors. Washington ordered a variety of garments from carlins hands including coats, waistcoats, leggings, and more formal attire. Are the most common garment carlin made for washington. Washington may have given up on Charles Lawrences ability to accurately judge the height and br eadth of his client for making satisfactory breeches. Washington wrote i think you have sent my clothes too short and too tight. I am full six feet high. I love how he blames it on everybody else. No, i am not gaining weight at all. Rescue. , carlin to the he provided washington with the fitted and very fashionable clothing that he needed in order to maintain his place in alexandrias complex and visible social order. He was revered and respected within the region. Washingtons tastes set the bar for the remainder of society, who were seeking to emulate fashionable dress of the local gentry. Artisans, merchants, and enslaved men also passed through the doors of harlans tailor shop, illustrating carlins tailor shop. It can uphold inequalities of the tailors space itself ensured that even for a brief moment, exploredxing could be and experienced in this prerevolutionary space. Which is quite rare in this time. The very act of being measured and fit for clothing was something nearly all members of the scholl strata could expect social strata could experience. Adieu. L bid washington we are going to start exploring some of the other one hundred 30 members of alexandrias Community Stepped inside the walls of carlins shop and accounted for nearly 2000 transactions in that surviving account book by washington. The current constructed garments, they sought sought hishant class talent as well. He is noted for hosting the british diarist nicholas prestel in 1774. John carlisle, a wealthy merchant, also was a frequent customer in carlins shop. Gentry,ion to the William Carlin had a strong working relationship with the artisans in the city as well so customers in this category represent a wide crosssection of the men who worked with their hands and dirty shops, at smoke and soot filled forges, and wet rfs. Warfs. Carlin produce clothing for one architect, two blacksmiths, 100, oneiners, two shipbuilders, silversmith, one tanner, and 305 garments for alexandrias artisans, including 38 waistcoats, 36 coats, and 17 suits with fabric choices that ranged from a velvet suit for jonathan butcher to a country club suit for silversmith charles turner. With silk waistcoats, breeches, and drab seats in between. Carlin served marginal numbers of alexandrias society for enslaved African Americans and indentured servants. In workshops of artisans and taverns as well. He made clothing for apprentices. Artisans made provisions for the clothing of their apprentices in their accounts when they came to carlin himself. Builder James Parsons purchased clothing for two of his apprentices who we know were samuel rowe and joe barnes. In addition to apprentices, citizens used a workforce of both white indentured servants and enslaved African Americans and many customers in carlins accounts have not been identified. I have not been able to figure out who they are. That is because, at this time, alexandria relied heavily on white indentured servitude and it is possible to assert that many of these unidentified individuals were members of this social class in alexandria. Is robert adam. He made purchases from himself and at least 12 other individuals that are only identified by their first name so it is possible that some of them were enslaved or otherwise somehow part of adams working household. To this point, carlins accounts provide a really interesting view of how members of alexandrias enslaved Community Acquired clothing as well as what they wore. The accounts for over 50 of the clothing for enslaved men, tailor instructed garments for the men interestingly, clothing made specifically for the enslaved members of alexandrias community account for over 10 of the total transactions in the 37 of as a whole and harlans customers also purchase clothing for enslaved men. Customerscarlins also purchase clothing for enslaved men. I am a quantitative historian. Really sorry about that. I think that is the most you will hear today. The types of clothing carlin produced for these men is typical of what any man would receive from his tailor, free or enslaved. In all, he produced a 90 coats, 58 pairs of breaches, 39 seats, seven coats, and 14 frocks for enslaved men owned by other alexandria citizens. I would like to do a bit of a deep dive further into the clothing that carlin made for these enslaved members of Alexandria Society because we really know precious little about this very prominent and visible part of the citys population. Through carlins account folks, we gained so much more insight into their material lives on the eve of resolution. It can help us understand the lifecycle of clothing within the broader lens of material life of being enslaved. Man,who is an enslaved appears to receive clothing from carlin at least twice between 1772 and 7075. 1775. In 1772, joe received a coat. In 1775, carlin mended his leather breeches, like the bluejeans of that time. This is interesting to me, given the fact that his next appearance in any document of any kind is in the virginia gazette, a runaway advertisement dated september 12, 1777. Here we go. It reads, run away from the subscriber in Fairfax County near alexandria about the 10th of august. A young meager man named joe, 21 years of age, 58, wellmade, away,ad on when he went may probably change his clothes. How many of us have read advertisements like this in our studies of the 18th century . We all too often assume that runaways like joe still clothing that did not belong to them to change into or maybe we never paid attention to the statement. Given jos presence in carlins account book, we might assume joe had a small wardrobe, at least a coat and an additional pair of breaches. I find it interesting that working backwards, from his age in 1777, we know something we did not about joe, that he was 16 years old when he entered carlins shop with his owner and received a new coach. By the time he was 19, he had a pair of leather breeches that needed mending. These are small details. Every little bit helps to piece together the lives of someone like joe. Details, wee little would not know that this man ever existed at all and i think that is powerful. Mayher to this point, joe attempts to enlist as a free man. 1777. Perhaps his wardrobe enables him to better play the part of a free man instead of his actual runaway status that he was so perhaps clothing from carlins tods aided in joes escape freedom or perhaps in his escape to fight for the freedom of the country. As i mentioned before, the majority of clothing that carlin produced for enslaved men was in the form oflive livery. Elaboratethe more gentry elite. Washington was a frequent client thearlins when he needed construction of livery. Valet andhis enslaved longtime companion. A guatemala auto, william a tto, william. He needed livery from carlin the tailor, for mike when he arrived at mount vernon. Carlin charged washingtons will liverymaking as well as putting pockets into an repairing the suit. We know that washingtons household livery they are always colors hemorrhoid . The colors, right . We can assume that that might be for livery. William lee arrived at mount vernon in 1768 when he was 18 years old. He received livery from carlin the tailor after a year of service at the estate and this is surely not his first suit of livery and it would not be his last. William makes another appearance in the accounts in june of 1771, and again, carlin charges washington for making will livery, coat, and breeches. Carlin also made frank a suit, made nat a waistcoat and breeches. Who are these people . Frank was williams younger brother who came to the estate in 1768. Frank served the household as a also furnished with washingtons signature red and white livery. Nats in at least four the slavery database. Forin charged washington altering a pair of leather breeches for giles. He was a likely recipient of two jackets and waistcoats. Evidence by carlins charge for scarlet silk. Carlins account with washington is one of many accounts that can pause in a muchthis a needed conversation. I have more, if you want more. We have explored the when, the where and who, but lets get back to the close themselves and what does it all mean . For much of the 18th century, colonists were striving to emulate british style. He thought of ourselves as british subjects. We wanted to look and dress like it. We utilized the same textiles and cut that were prevalent across the atlantic. However dedicated to british been,n colonists may have virginias climate forced change. Not hard to believe, right . Virginians affected london dress and wasted no all time except in the summer months. Virginians constantly adapted for what passed as fashionable in response to the regions climate. Members of the gentry designer suits with central passageways that provided the home with that cool airflow. When he arrived in virginia in how awful. He might not have been expecting to experience such a sweltering climate here. You would scarce not know me know this is a letter he wrote home. There is nothing brown, black or blue about me but my head or feet. I being dressed in a short coat and breaches made of white cotton without lining and thread stockings and wearing my own hair curled around like a wig. Painting a picture. Perceived ofistics normal clothing provide clues as to how virginians adapted. Which again is nothing new to us. Further to this a young traveler point, took advice from his brother before embarking to virginia in 1765. The clothing and summer must be as thin as possible because the conception. D your you must carry a stock of linen waistcoats made very large and loose so that they will not stick to your hide when you perspire. Carl and knew how to cloth alexandrian. In his account, he specified the color white 44 times, the third most popular color of any garment to come out of a shop. Carlin dressed alexandrian in white fabrics. These are all breathable fabrics that would allow people to survive in the sweltering heat. Carlin he produced clothing for this hot summer months. He is making things he is calling summer coats, summer suits, all things indicating that they are dressing for the climate. It is unbearable. Virginias winters could also be extremely better. 1774, aner of englishman living with james kurt wrote that it was exceeding cold and frosty. The winter was more severe than ever felt in england. I have acquired winter garments similar to carlin would make. He was for wearing during the coldest months, quitting coats, winter suits, winter coats and a great winter waistcoat. He also constructed flannel drawers for judge mason for an cold [laughter] november. Absorbed that. We will stick with masons account for a few moments. Present in the account book from 1764 to 1775. The transactions provider into that provided interesting window into the way clothing marked life passages. Masons clothing purchased for his son illustrated his point that clothing could mark they could celebrate life milestones, acknowledge mortality as well. Mason maden 1767, purchases for his sons while he made purchases for himself. They are all going in together as a family and making these orders. His oldest son, george, was 14 years old and william was 10. Thomas was eight. Thompson was eight. Eefore they were reached wor breaches, they dressed in gallons. It allowed free range and movement. It is the undergarment that taught boys and girls proper, upright posture. Probably none of us are really displaying it today. Boys stopped wearing their stays at the time of the transition from gowns to breaches between the age of four and eight. I mentioned the textile historian in williamsburg has a great quote. The change from petticoats to breaches was a big event in any boys life. It symbolized growing up and moving out of the female domain into the male. Leaving your mother and nursery and moving into an adult life. March 18, 1772 may have been the big day for masons youngest son john who entered the tailor shop for a coat and breaches. Hairbone. Ably it was a fabric typical at the time for that clothing. Born on april 4, 1766, this event occurred shortly before johns sixth birthday. Together with the agent which john first appeared in the account book and taking that into consideration his familys long patronage in the shop, it is likely that this first transaction describes the first event that signified john posey transition johns into manhood. John would grow up to become an extremely successful merchant an banker and businessman and france as well as alexandria. His adult life begins around the corner. As a young child, he learns that his adult life can begin in a tailors shop, but he learns that clothing can signify death as well. When his mother anne died in childbirth in march of 1773, they went into period of mourning, similar to social customs in virginia. This necessitated very specific social props, and in this case black mourning suits. Unable to carlin charged masons , 1773, account for making a suit of mourning. Making your sun posey son suit. Only one year after he received his first suit of clothes, he received mourning attire as well. He learned the rules that life could play clothing could play in life and death. Thankfully, mourning was not the only life event that carlin produced clothing. There are no clues in the account book to show us what it would look like. The bucket list the account book illustrates that clothing functions beyond a basic necessity and to protect one from the climate clothing was. Right of passage. The majority of clothing focused on those produced for the elite gentry, but is evidence that members of all social strata found themselves in and amongst the walls of the tailor shop. By the time he set up a shot in the 1760s, the colonies were really well entrenched. Not in the American Revolution but the consumer revolution. Although society was heavily stratified, the revolution and production, marketing, and credit made it possible for more people to purchase goods than ever before. Before that credit crisis, credit was widely available and easily acceptable to a lot of people who asked for it. In alexandria, like many other city centers one certainly did , not need to be a member of the gentry elite to shop like one. The taste refinery extended to their wardrobe. Nowhere is this more evident than in carlins account book. The orders that carlin took on credit were people who dressed for success and dressed to impress. Although the population was deeply stratified even the , lowest classes of society desired to attain a Higher Quality of life in many your and to emulate their social betters. As an English Writer wrote about the impact of fashion, sparking perpetual restless ambition and the inferior ranks to raise themselves to the level of those immediately above them. I think she would have said that in downton abbey. This is a 19th century quote. In addition to the consumer revolution, customers had another revolution on their mind, the reason why we are here today the American Revolution. , through the course of a few years, the desire to maintain their britishness had given way to their need to be politically proactive, showing discontent with parliament resulting in various measures. Including the nonimpartation of British Goods. Including the yard goods and readymade clothing needed to perform social acts. This desire to enact patriotism via consumption or lack thereof was fervent, especially in alexandria. William carlin stitched together fabrics not only from Great Britain but around the world. The colonists desire to stand up to britain by a lack of consumption stood to drastically impact the business. That makes sense, right . We are wrong. That didnt happen. By comparing the years in which William Carlin received the most business, the activity of customers and those who signed the nonimpartation agreement it , is clear to see that the revolutionary fervor did not have a negative impact on carlin. 1770 is this guys busiest year. It is unbelievable. Other members of the plantar and merchant elite who signed the agreement, at least eight were extremely active customers. These are prominent alexandria and Fairfax County names. The fairfax agreement renounced impartation of commodities from britain, including fabrics and textiles one would assume it , would show symptoms of a population cutting back on consumption but his business , actually almost doubled. What accounts for this . The business may have doubled because colonists were eager to utilize the textiles already in the colonies before supplies came to a shortage. Maybe it is a matter of supply and demand. That clever merchants in alexandria possibly took after William Allison who purchased an abundance of textiles from Great Britain in 1769 in anticipation of this sort of thing. Trying to stock his shelf waiting for someone to say we are not going to import that f anymore, just to say i have it here for you. Pretty smart guy. By bringing previously imported or bys to William Carlin him selling it himself nobody , really stood to be found in violation of the nonimpartation agreement. It is also possible that members of the gentry such as washington who occasionally did receive from from clothes london taylors made the choice to shop locally and patronize local tailors instead of going abroad. The maybe some contribute factors to this hike and consumerism. And consumerism. In consumerism. Regardless of the reasons behind the spike in business, it is clear to see that even when alexandria citizens desired to curb their enthusiasm for British Goods, they are still doing it. In 1765, a writer in the newspaper noted, no age can come up to the present one by their dress, dependence or the shop and are not distinguishable. The analysis verifies this proclamation made by the connecticut writer. Predominately before the revolution, he produced clothing for all members of Alexandria Society. Everyone wore clothing from the hands of the tailor and passed through the wall of that shop. He measured and fit the gentry for clothing, measured those inside the walls of his shop. Produced clothing worn by mason in washington as they oversaw workers on the plantation and made the clothing of the women and men doing the work. Carlin offered these services, acquired through years of apprenticeship, to measure and fit men for their clothing, and providing them with clothing that they needed to cope with virginias climate, ushering in s milestones and changes. With the help of the consumer revolution, carlin provided alexandria citizens with clothing made from any textile that the market had to offer. He continued to facilitate citizens residents fashionable desires to the turbulent years of the American Revolution as well. Do not take me wrong. I am not accusing him of facilitating open rebellion by trying to get people to not any emulate the british or purchase British Goods. I think of him as a middleman. He also did his part. Patriots more fully realized in revolutionary quite literally put on the formal uniform of revolutionary rebellion. 1775, after Patrick Henry delivered his memorable words of give me liberty or give me death, they published george masons declaration of rights. James parsons entered the tailor shop for the price of one pound. And seven shillings and six pence, he dawned a regimental suit. The revolution had begun. Thank you so much. [applause] the account book. Did it also say where he purchased his materials, his cloth . Is that in the account book . Katherine there is only one transaction that tells me anything about where he was purchasing. There is one account. It is the earliest transaction in the account book, and it says james todd of york in england. That is the only thing that i can find and it is possible that this is just one of the account keeping books. He may have others that are for that business, importing raw materials. Maybe he got them locally. I do not know. It is mostly incoming and outgoing based on customers. I would love to know the answer to that question. If you find it, let me know. I was thinking about a large, recent find in alexandria, and is perhaps the cloth was coming in on some of those. It would be nice to get an account. Katherine i do not know who he is communicating with in england or elsewhere. Thank you for your presentation. It was really fascinating. Just a couple questions to round out my picture. Like george mason even one of the workers in town have more than one outfit . Would they have several . The second question is, what about hygiene at this time in history . Katherine hygiene is a fun one to answer. They do things differently. There is a great book, if you want to do a deep dive. It is by kathy brown. She talks a lot about bathing, about hygiene and all of these fun questions. It is very virginia centric. But laundry is a thing. Bleaching things out in the sun is a thing. People are taking care of their clothing they do bathe in this , contrary to popular mythology. There are things that we can do to keep our clothing fresh. Back to your question about multiple garments. It is clear in the account book, and that one receipt for some of the enslaved men, also in the fairfax records as well. You can see when people are acquiring new sets of clothes. A lot of it revolves around seasonality. At least for enslaved members of society, you were obligated to clothe slaves. People Like Washington and mason i think it is plain to see in the account that you can follow what happens to the garments, which are repaired versus replaced. When that happens when they get new suits. For other members of society as well, i think that is the value of going straight to the account like this where you can see people are getting a lot of clothes. People do have multiple suits of clothes. That might be because changing clothes is not like what we do today. We have a lot of Different Things to dress for an the 18th century versus the 21st. I am wearing a wool skirt and it is 90 degrees outside. I do not need to think about what the climate is when i dress myself in the morning. These people did. They do things differently. There are 400 other ways i could answer the question, but that is a start. In terms of the size of the wardrobe, what was the popular fashion in this time . Katherine i should mention that probate inventories is a fun way to gauge what people had. It really sucks for looking at clothing. Probate inventories are meant to get a look for resale or paying off your debt. Compared to other things in the house, clothing will not affect that much. Secondhand clothing is not going to fetch that much. It really could have been a great way to answer your question, but we cannot do that way because people were not thinking that way in the 18th century. Way but Womens Clothing were more often getting clothing from down makers. The way the clothing is constructed is completely different to how men were getting their clothing constructed. Stand up. You can stay there. That is my husband. If he is going to a tailor and having clothing made, andrew would be his own dress form. Suit form . I dont know. The way that a tailor is going to work out how to construct his finished garment is by taking measurements using a strip of paper. Ands going to measure arms everything. Sit down. [laughter] the way that a woman will go, she will stand in a certain form as well, but the way that works is instead of a strip of paper placed across the area of measurement, they will drape fabric right on a womans body. If you think about it womens , clothing were very formfitting in some places and extremely elaborate and huge in others. The way you are measured for the clothing is totally different. The two reasons why a woman might go to the tailor, some male tailors were also made womens stays and riding habits. There constructed to look like mens suits, only it is a skirt. A tailor would do riding habits as well. That was so informative and fun. Thanks for those. I tried to be fun. You talked about the variances in style based on climate. I am wondering if the revolution was on and the new nation emerged, did that affect clothing styles at all . Would you be able to distinguish a patriot from a loyalist at some point westmark katherine we have this idea of the homespun movement. That is what i am trying to do a deep dive into. I think the homespun movement, showing patriotism by not importing British Goods but by wearing clothing made from was that your question as well . [indiscernible] katherine happy come back to that. I think there is a short Spark Movement to Wear Clothing constructed from fabric made in the colonies as a way to stick it to britain. We have homespun balls and things like that. Not everyone is able to do that. I think we have it in our minds eye that everyone was running around in homespun, but i am not sure it happened to the magnitude that we want it to. In terms of dressing for the season, that is still a factor. We have central air that is still a factor. I feel like they are so many different ways to answer these questions. We are always colonists and then citizens of the new republic are always looking to england first and then france for fashionable inspiration. A fun thing happens in fashion. In about 1800, you have this prevalence towards the classics and being inspired by the classics. We see women in beautifully draped gowns. They look like grecian goddesses. There are other parts of fashionable life that also take that into account. You see that being reflected in architecture. People have done Amazing Research papers on how a column on a building reflects how a gal and a womans body and how it says something about the new republic. In a way fashion does change after the revolution and there might be a way to put that in a nice little box. Another question about domestic manufacture . It depends. The beginning of the American Revolution, we have the beginning of the industrial revolution. The idea of domestic manufacturing will start kicking off in the 19th century when we have more industry and are choosing to support ourselves more as a nation. The clothing trade becomes more industrialized. In the 19th century, we have more technology in terms of the sewing machine. That is not as fun. Everything is readymade. Readymade democracies. There is a book that talks about this, more geared towards mens clothing. It is the industrial where we see more of the domestic movement. I hope that answers your question. [indiscernible] katherine another problem that i want to point out was the idea of homespun. You have to have not only the technology to create cloth in your home and you would have to have the leisure time. It is an incredible amount of work. There Something Like 13 steps between selling the flaxseed and wearing linen. You have to have an incredible amount of leisure time to do that. You also have to have a way of supporting yourself through that process as well. Thats another factor lost in this conversation. Sure, you might know how to do it, but do you have the leisure time to do it . You might really want to wear heespun to show your try to gleanings, but who is doing it . Where can you get it . That is probably more of a regional conversation than a national one. I hope this segues. We know when the british soldiers came over, they were wearing their woolen outfits. Do you know the uniform that was made, or what was being made for the Continental Army . Was that wool or more linen . Katherine they were also wearing wool. Cotton. I would rather wear wool than polyester, even on a day like this. But washington is there ordering everyone to wear hunting shirts. This is the linen that is more of what you might see in your minds eye when you think of men wearing the shirts. Those are large linen, almost smocklike garments. It had to do with availability of materials, how to make the shirts, in washington once everyone inwants the same color. Everyone is running around in different colors. So yeah, there are wool uniforms. Continental army is wearing them just like the british army. They are also starting to use the idea of linen hunting shirts as well. [applause] this is American History tv on cspan3 where we feature 48 hours of programs exploring our nations past. We are on board the colonel james schoonmaker. When she was launched in 1911, she was called the queen of the lakes. She was the largest ship on the great lakes at the time. We will take you around and show you just how much cargo this great ship could carry