How we have shopped for clothes.

In the Victorian era it was only the very rich who could afford to buy clothes. Many of this group going to Paris to do their shopping.
For the rest of the population they had to wait until the start of the 19th century before they were able to buy clothes  ‘off the peg ’, as it was then that a form of mass produced clothing was developed. These clothes were of a basic style aimed at the ordinary man and woman in the street.
In the 1850s however standards in clothing improved as they began to be made by hand. Clothes were fitted and made by dressmakers who measured the customer to make sure they were a good fit.
In the mid 19th century other innovations made a huge difference to the availability of well fitting garments. Among theses  were; the Singer sewing machine company introduced higher purchase, allowing people to pay over time for their machine, the companies of Butterick and McCall’s made paper patterns accessible to customers. This combination allowed home dressmaking to become easy and popular.
Along with these developments came improvement in public transport. This  meant people could travel to the shops, in particular the new department stores.
These stores were very large, and not only clothes but the accessories could be bought under one roof.
The purchase of a piece of fabric was a special event as clothes had to last much consideration had to be given as after the adults used the clothes it was the turn of the children. If travel to the stores was difficult fabric could be bought from travelling salesmen and peddlers.
Today we have a worldwide source of clothes. We can buy them from the Internet, Mail order, television and of course the department stores.