Historic reservation and an ma in Early American History from the college of william and mary. She has can treated to the developing of permanence galleries at the new revolutionary war museum in yorktown. A special exhibition curator for yorktown and jamestown, including tenacity, early jamestown in virginia. Also the forgotten soldier, africanamericans and the revolution. Kate will present her topic. Please welcome my good friend kate gruber. applause good afternoon. You have to get through me before we get to happy hour. I promise ill make that happen with as much alacrity as possible. Mark twain said it best, clothes make the man, naked people have little to no influence on society. Mark twain also said the more i learn about people, the more i like my dog, so maybe we shouldnt exactly take his word or it. Also he dressed like this. Why dont we go to the british author robert campbell, who wrote that no man is ignorant, the taelor is the one who makes our clothes. In some measure he makes himself. In short, the clothes make the man. In 18thcentury people had a relationship with their clothing. And others who had a role in producing clothing, imprudent importing or selling. This is true for alexandria virginia on the eve of the revolution. They define themselves by adherence to strict social hierarchies and clothing and textile consumptions provide a unique dichotomy. I want to take you on a journey, a journey through 18thcentury alexandria, a city on the eve of revolution. Can everyone hear me ok . I will try better. Utilizing this account book as our guide, my goal is to give you just a glimpse of prerevolutionary alexandria through the lens of how its residents acquired clothing, and importantly the lives they lived. Hopefully what will emerge is a more complete picture on the city of the city on the eve of revolution. Or at the very least, eliminate what society war to the revolution. We are going to get started right away. William carlin serve the residents of alexandria as a tailor from 1763 to 1782. He offered a very rare and unique insight into the world of consumerism and culture. Carl ands account book provides the names of 130 customers who entered his shop to be measured and for clothing. His taylor business flourished in alexandria shortly after its founding meeting in williamsburg. I invite public participation. Go for it. They propose erecting a town at the comp ash the county of fairfax. I am literally preaching to the choir here, you know the history of this town, alexandria thrived on imports and exports. Tobacco and wheat across the atlantic in exchange for other goods like rum, sugar and fashionable luxury. You have also heard about stores and warehouses for scottish and english merchants who imported those goods across the atlantic and through english ports. Eventually all of those goods made their way through alexandria. The city had a population of just under 2000 inhabitants. That population would grow to 5000 by 1800. The residents were shipbuilders, merchants, silversmiths, blacksmiths and enslaved african americans, trapper keepers and white indentured servants also found themselves here. Many were immigrants from england and scotland and one of them was a tailor. In my mind this is how i imagine him for a really long time. Im going to let that sink in for a moment. Middle age, short, a round figure. Given recent movements toward handmade goods and a source from local materials. In realizing carlin was roughly the same age i am now. To be fair, how about that . I havent been able to uncover too much of his life before he began the book here. He then lived in london apparently before immigrating to virginia. I dont know yet whether he completed his apprenticeship in england or in virginia. He was 31 years old in 1763. The including influential planters like George Washington and george mason, who lives within only a few miles of the city center. Scottish and english merchants set up shop. Carl ends shop was located on the corner of king and royal street. We get to walk right by it when we go to happy hour. Spend some time last night saying hello. Conveniently located next to a subway. I told my husband thats why he was so thin and not fat and balding, because he was on the jared diet. It must have been a visible feature on the landscape and customers didnt have to travel too far to visit the shop, some of the places they themselves worked or lived. Of the customers were i identified where they lived, no one was more than one mile away from the shop. That includes george mason, who owned a townhouse of 200 feet from the shop, and George Washingtons townhouse less than half a mile away, which is i guess up north. It would be just off this map here. Merchants and tradesmen were crucial links to planters in washington, who needed these luxury items and cartons that would provide props for their social performance of dominance. Current supply the men of alexandria with many of these props they needed to perform these acts. The account book reveals the customers who patronize to shop or a reflection of the cities tour mcgrath x as a whole. Im going to get into that a little bit later. Before we can fully comprehend all of that, we need to talk about the relationship of the taylor to clientele in the form of the art industry of the taylors trade. When George Washington we talked a lot about George Washington today. When he ordered suits from his london taylor, he included the language, delivered suits must be taken with must be delivered with measures taken of men of similar size that you judge. These are simple instructions that were essential communications to a tailor, if you are expecting him to construct a handsewn fitted garment. Until the very recent past, handsome clothing was not a luxury item, it is a simple fact of clothing restriction clothing construction. Handsewn remained the standard mode for production for any garment. Whether it was a middling artisan or slave. The men and women in the 18th century werent familiar with needle and thread and they can make simple repairs on household items. Fuller garments required the knowledge and skills of men and women who learned their trade through apprenticeship. Coats and waistcoats, they sit closely and precisely to the body. They require the skills of a tailor to construct. A tailor skill lay in his ability to fit, to measure and cut garments for men. This is just men here, i wanted to make a quick point, men being customers. Womens garment construction was completely different. These are just men in mens garments here. Its the 18thcentury corset. Because most colonists lack the ability to construct their own clothing, somewhere along the line they need to utilize the skills of a tailor at some point, even the Virginian Company included a tailor in the expedition to jamestown in 1607. Making it one of the most represented traits and colonial virginia, second only to carpenters. If you know anything about what happens, the fact they are predominant preoccupation was we need more tailors, that says a lot. They are not eating but got to look good. That trend actually holds up throughout the 18th century. Taylors advertisements make up 6 of total advertisements from copies of the gazette. Only third behind tutors and doctors. In alexandria a distribution of the cities tour occupation reveals 20 of local artisans were involved in the clothing craft. It is second to those employed in the construction trade. This overwhelming number of taylors speaks to their necessity in a society where individuals did not routinely make their own clothing. Why were tailors and their skill so important to communities like alexandria . According to one source, a tailor must be skilled enough to sew a good shape where nature has not designed it. To accomplish this, a tailor needed to take systematic measurements across the male body. May i have a volunteer who knows french. There has to be somebody. I dont want to butcher this on cspan. If you could read the title of this book for me. Thank you very much. I took latin, i am useless. Thank you for saving me from that. This is a 1769 treatise on the art of tailoring. It chronicles 20 different measurements needed on a man body in order to construct a well fitted and well cut suit. In english, a tailor must take the measurements for which the person whom the clothes are going to be made. A strip of paper one inch wide is used. Each measurement is marked on the measure by a snip of the scissors. These careful measurements will ensure that the finished garment would fit the customer properly. George washingtons relationship or clothing exports the importance of cut and fit. He was the tallest and continental congress. He knew these details were necessary in the construction of clothing. Washington wrote to charles lawrence, let it be fit in respect for other men six feet high. Washington was not satisfied with the quality of the garments he received from the london taylor. Whether it is the fault of the tailor or the measure, i cant say with certain that my clothes have never fit me well. To eradicate his own frustrations with fully fitted garments, washington turned to our hero. Washington brought coats that needed mending, suits that needed altering. With washington standing as his own model, he could widen the threat of cokes of coats. Carlin charged washington, one day altering your clothes to your great coat and so on. As a gentlemen planner in a prominent city, you are going to have to keep looking at washington for a while, George Washington was really at the top of alexandrias social ladder. He warned his friends not to concede that fine clothes make fine men any more than Fine Feathers make fine birds. We have seen washington turned to carlin. Russia ordered a variety of garments, including coats, waistcoats, and formal attire. Bridges were the most common garment carlin made for George Washington. It seems washington has given up on charles lawrences ability to judge the height and breadth of his client. I think you have generally for reasons which i think it is necessary to mention i am a full six feet high. I love how he blames it on everyone else. Again carlin to the rescue. He provided washington with very fashionable clothing he needed in order to maintain his place. Its revered and respected within the region we had it really set the bar for the remainder of the society. Artisans, merchants and enslaved men also pass through the door, illustrating that the clothing can uphold social hierarchies and inequalities. The taylor space ensured that even for a brief moment social mixing could be explored and experienced in a prerevolutionary space. The act of being measured and fit for clothing was something all members the social strata could experience and 18thcentury virginia. We are going to bed washington a temporary i do temporary adieu. We are going to explore the 130 members of alexandrias community, who stepped inside the walls of carls shop and accounted for the 2000 transactions in the account books. Carlin constructed garments for washington and george mason. At least 38 members of alexandrias merchant class as well. Hopefully someone you have heard of. John carlisle, a wealthy high profile merchant, was a frequent customer in carlin pop shop. William carlin had a strong working relationship with the artisans and trade city as well. These represent a wide crosssection of the men who worked with their hands. Such as locksmith joel cooper. And silversmith charle turner. One architect, two blacksmiths, five joiners, one silversmith. He produced 305 garments for alexandrias artisan. Including 36 coats widths with fabric choices that arrange that range to a country cough country cloth suit. Carlin also served other equally visible yet marginal members of alexandria society. The white indentured servants who worked on the plantations here. And in the workshops of the cities, artisans and taverns as well. Carlin made clothing for apprentices and artisans. James parson purchased clothes for two of his apprentices. In addition to apprentices alexandria citizens utilized a workforce for white indentured servants and enslaved african americans. I just have the name. At this time alexandria relied heavily on white indentured servitude. Many of these unidentified individuals were members of this social class in alexandria. For one example, is alexandria merchant robert adam, he made purchases for himself and 12 other individuals that are only identified by their first name. Its possible some of them were enslaved and part of adams working household. Further to this point carlins account provides an interesting view of how members of alexandrias enslaved community required clothing acquired clothing. The taylor constructed a myriad of garments for members of the enslaved Community Working for and owned by alexandria clothing made for the enslaved members account for 10 of the total transaction. At the same time they purchase clothing for themselves. I dont think i included that in my biography. I think that is the most you are going to hear today. The types of clothing carlin produced for these men is typical of what any man would receive for received from his taylor. 58 pairs of breaches, 39 suits, seven gray coats for enslaved mend owned by other alexandria citizens. I would like to do a deep dive further into the clothing that carlin made for these enslaved members of alexandria society. We know precious little about this prominent part of the cities tour population. We gained so much more insight into their material lives on the eve of revolution. Carlins accounts can help us understand the variety and quantity and lifecycle of clothing within the broader land. Joe, who is an enslaved man, appears to receive clothing from carlin at least twice. Very infrequent customer of carlin. In 1772, joe received a coat. In 1775 carlin amended his breaches. This is interesting to me, given the fact that joess appearance is in the virginia gazette. It is dated september 12, 1777. About the 10th of august. A young man named joe, 21 years of age, wellmade and had on a shirt. We all too often, how many of us have read advertisements like this . We read these advertisements and assume that runaways like joe still clothing that didnt belong to them to change into. Or maybe we never paid attention to this statement. We might assume joe had a small wardrobe. I find it interesting that working backwards, we now know something we didnt, he was about 16 years old when he received a new coat. He had a pair of wet pair of leather breaches. Every little bit helps. Without these details we wouldnt know that this man ever existed at all. Charles john points out that joe may attempt to enlist as a free man. Perhaps joes wardrobe enabled him to better play the part of a free man instead of his actual runaway status. Aided in joes escape to freedom or perhaps in his escape to fight for the freedom of the country. The custommade uniforms and the more elaborate plantation households. We are going to return to washington. Washington was a frequent client of carlin when he needed the construction from any of his domestic staff. A mood lotto came to washington in 1769 he needed to brief carlin. Carlin charged washingtons account for making delivery and putting pockets into and repairing the suit. We know that washington household, there are always colors, the delivery was red and white. We can assume that might be for delivery. William lee arrived at mount wert mount vernon in 1768. He received a delivery after a year of service. William makes another appearance in the account in june of 1771. Carlin charges washington for making coat and breaches. Carlin also made a waistcoat and breaches. Frank was williams younger brother, who came to these in 1768. Frank served the household as a butler and was furnished with washingtons signature red and white deliveries. There are four men by the name of nat. This could have been a groom or artisan on the property. Carlin charged washington for altering a pair of leather breaches. He also was a likely recipient of two jackets and waistcoats carlin constructed in 1771, evidenced by carlins charge. Call ends account with washington is really one of many accounts that can tell us much about the material life of alexandrias enslaved population. I have more, if you want more. We have explored the when, the where and who, but lets get back to the clothing it felt. 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. Used the same textiles and cut that were prevalent across the atlantic. Virginia climate forced change. Virginians accepting the summer months. They constantly adapted for what passed as fashionable in the regions climate. Central passageways provided sorting but also that cool airflow. In august of 17 for, how awful. He might not have been expecting such a sweltering climate here. This is a letter he wrote home. There is nothing brown, black or blue about me but my head or feet. Being dressed in a short coat and breaches made of white cotton without lining and thread cotton, my own hair curled around like a wig. The characteristics will provide clues as to how virginians adapted. It is nothing new to us. A young traveler took advice from his brother. The clothing and summer must be as thin as possible because the heat is beyond perception. You must carry a stock of linen waistcoats made very large and loose so that they will not stick tear hide when you perspire to your hide when you perspire. In his account, he specified the color white 44 times, the third most popular color of any garment to come out of a shop. He 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. Summer coats, summer suits, all things indicating that they are dressing for the climate. Virginias summer heat were strong but winters were strong as well. The englishman living with james kurt wrote that it was exceeding cold and frosty. I have acquired winter garments similar for the cold months. He also constructed slander flannel drawers for him. Absorbed that. We will stay with masons accounts. The transactions provider into how clothing marked life passages. He purchased clothing for his sons. They could celebrate but also expressed grief as well. He began making purchases for his sons while he made purchases for himself. His oldest son, george was 14 years old and william was 10. Thomas was eight. Before breaches, they dressed in gallup. It allowed free range and movement. It taught boys and girls proper, upright posture. Boys stopped wearing their stays during the transition to breaches between 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. Kind of leaving your mother and nursery and moving into an adult life. This might have been the big day for his youngest son who entered the shop for a coat and breaches. Born on april 4, 17 66, this occurred shortly before johns sixth birthday. At the age in which he first appears in the account book and taken into accounted, it is likely that this first transaction describes the first event to signify his transition into manhood. John would grow up to become an extremely sensible successful merchant. 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 died in childbirth, they went into a period of mourning, similar to social customs in virginia. Black mourning suits. Carlin charged masons account for making a suit of mourning. Only one year after he received his first hit of close, he received mourning attire as well. Thankfully, mourning was not the only event. There are no clues in the account book to show us what it would look like. It illustrates that clothing functions beyond a basic necessity. Clothing was life and signified the right of passage. The majority of clothing focused on those produced for the elite gentry, but is evidence that members of all social strata came into the shop. The colonies were really well entrenched. Although society was heavily stratified, the revolution and production made it possible for more people to purchase goods than ever before. Before that credit crisis, credit was widely available and acceptable to a lot of people who asked for it. One certainly did not need to be a member to shop like one. The taste refinery extended to the wardrobe. The orders that carlin took on credit were those who said who dressed for success and to impress. Even the lowest classes of society desired a Higher Quality of life. In English Writer wrote about the impact of fashion, sparking restless ambition to raise themselves to the level of those immediately above them. In addition to the consumer revolution, customers had another revolution on their mind, 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 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 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 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 desire to stand up to britain by a lack of consumption stood to drastically impact the business. By comparing the years in which he received the most business, the activity of customers and those who signed the agreement, it is clear to see that the revolutionary fervor did not have a negative impact. 1770 is his biggest year. It is unbelievable. Of the members who signed the agreement, at least eight were extremely active customer. These are prominent alexandria and Fairfax County names. The fairfax agreement reversed fabric and textiles. One would assume it would show symptoms of a population cutting back, but his business actually almost doubled. What accounts for this . Colonists were eagle eager to utilize in the colonies before supplies came to a shortage. Maybe it is a matter of supply and demand. Clever merchants in alexandria possibly took after William Allison who purchased an abundance of textiles from Great Britain in anticipation of this sort of thing. Trying to stop 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. By bringing previously imported fabric, nobody really stood to be found in violation. It is also possible that members of the gentry made the choice to shop locally and patronize local tailors instead of going abroad. 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 biter 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. They were clothing from the hands of the taelor 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 and washington and he made the close of the women and men doing the work. He offered these services, acquired through years of apprenticeship, to measure and fit men for their clothing, providing them with clothing that they needed to cope with virginias climate, ushering in 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 stated fashionable desires through 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 late the british. I think of him as a middleman. He also did his part. He quite literally put on the formal uniform of revolutionary rebellion. After Patrick Kenny delivered his memorable words of give me liberty or give me death, they published george masons declaration of rights. For the price of one pound and seven shillings and six pence, he wore 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 . There is only one transaction that tells me anything about where he was purchasing. It is the earliest transaction in the account book, and it says james todd of york and 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 might have others. Maybe he got locally. I do not know. It is mostly incoming and outgoing, based on customers. I would love to know the answer to that question. 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. I do not know who he is communicating with in england or elsewhere. Thank you for your presentation. It was fascinating. A couple questions to round out my picture. Would someone like george mason or 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 . Hygiene is a fun one to answer. There is a great book, if you want to do a deep dive. She talks a lot about bathing, hygiene and all of these fun questions. It is very virginia centric. Laundry is a thing. Bleaching things out in the sunshine is a thing. People do they in this time period, so 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. At least for enslaved members of society, they were obligated to clothe slaves. I think it is plain to see in the account that you can follow what happens to the garments, but ones are repaired versus replaced. For other members of society as well, i think that is the value of going straight to the account. People are getting a lot of clothing. 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 . I should mention that inventories is a fun way to gauge what people had. Inventories are meant to get a look for resale or paying off your debt. Compared to other things in the house, use clothing, secondhand clothing is not going to affect that much. It really could have been a great way to answer your question, but we cannot do that 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. 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. See form . The way that a tailor is going to work out how to construct his garment is by taking measurements using a strip of paper. People measure arms and everything. Sit down. 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. Womens clothing were very formfitting in some places and extremely elaborate and huge in others. The two reasons why a woman might go to the taylor, some male tailors also made womens stays and writing habits riding habits. A tailor would do riding habits as well. That was so informative and fun. They give. That is still a factor, again i feel theres many ways to answer these questions, i think we are always, colonists and then citizens of the new republic are always looking to england then to france for fashionable inspiration, a really fun thing happens in fashion after the creation of the united states, so at 1800 you have this prevalence towards the classics and we see women in beautifully draped down. 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. 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. This idea 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. Everything is readymade. There is a book that talks about this, more geared towards mens clothing. It is the industrial where we see more movement. I hope that answers your question. Another problem that i want to point out was the idea of homespun. You would need the technology to create cloth in your home and you would have to have the leisure time. It is an incredible amount of time. There are 13 steps. You have to have an incredible amount of leisure time to do that and a way to support yourself through that process as well. Sure, you might know how to do it, but do you have the leisure time to do it . Who is doing it . Where can you get it . That is probably more of a regional conversation than a regional one. 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 . They were also wearing wool. God, cotton. I would rather weatr wool than polyester, even on a day like this. But washington is where ordering everyone to wear hunting shirts. 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. Everyone is running around in different colors. So yeah, there are wool uniforms. Continental army is wearing them just like the british army. But also there are starting to play the ag of land and hunting shirts. applause im closing session for the opposing, and a panel of historians summarize their thoughts and discover the american revolutio