Garment Industry

History
New York first assumed its role as the center of the nation's garment industry by producing clothes for slaves working on Southern plantations. It was more efficient for their masters to buy clothes from producers in New York than to have the slaves spend time and labor making the clothing themselves. In addition to supplying clothing for slaves, tailors produced other ready-made garments for sailors and western prospectors during slack periods in their regular business. These kinds of goods were usually of a poor quality and often referred to as "slop work." Prior to the mid-nineteenth century, the majority of Americans either made their own clothing, which was loose fitting and required only basic skills and supplies, or if they were wealthy, purchased "tailor-made," customized clothing. By the 1820s, however, an increasing number of ready-made garments of a higher quality were being produced for a broader market.

The production of ready-made clothing, which continued to grow, completed its transformation to an "industrialized" profession with the invention of a practical and commercially viable sewing machine in 1850s. (Elias Howe patented the first sewing machine in 1844 although Isaac Merritt Singer, whose name is synonymous with the machine, added modifications and marketed the sewing machine for the first time to the mass public in the early 1850s. For more information, see also Sewing Machine.) The sewing machine, available to individuals for a relatively small amount of capital, allowed for a level of production hitherto unseen. Rather than forcing seamstresses and other contractors out of business as many reformers had warned, the sewing machine's advanced technology increased both employment and production.

The need for thousands of ready-made soldiers' uniforms during the Civil War helped the garment industry to expand further. Armies, both Union and Confederate, also instituted a standardized system of sizing for soldiers' clothing to make allotment easier; this system would continue on even after the War ended. By the end of the 1860s, Americans bought most of their clothing rather than making it themselves. Although ready-made clothing for women lagged behind that of men's due to more intricate tailoring demands, changes in style reversed the trend by the 1880s. With an ample supply of cheap labor and a well-established distribution network, New York was prepared to meet the demand. During the 1870s the value of garments produced in New York increased six-fold. By 1880 New York produced more garments than its four closest urban competitors combined, and in 1900 the value and output of the clothing trade was three times that of the city's second largest industry, sugar refining. New York's function as America's culture and fashion center also helped the garment industry by providing constantly changing styles and new demand; in 1910, 70% of the nation's women's clothing and 40% of the men's was produced in the City.