Download or read book Dress, Culture and Commerce written by B. Lemire and published by Springer. This book was released on 1997-01-15 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work examines a trade that covered the backs of sailors and soldiers, that shirted labouring men and skirted working women, that employed legions of needlewomen and supplied retailers with new consumer wares. Garments, once bought, returned again to the marketplace, circulating like a currency and bolstering demand. The agents in this trade included military contractors for clothing, female outworkers and dealers in used clothes. Each was affected by a changing demand for new-styled 'luxuries' and necessities in apparel.