Clothing Technology: Time Line


Figure 1.--.

A simple time line is helpful to understand the developments in clothing manufacture over time as well a the modern developments in children's clothing.

Pre-history

: Primitive humans used animmal skins and furs as early clothing.

3000 B.C.

: Cotton is woven in the Indus Valley, Asia.

1600 B.C.

: Shoes (like moccasins) are made by the Babylonians.

1500 B.C.

: Silk is woven by the Chinese, but is kept as closely held secret.

1200 B.C.

: Linen is made from flax by the Egyptians.

1100 B.C.

: Assyrian soldiers fashion the first boots. One of the many examples of the milyary influence in clothing.

200 A.D.

: Romans are the first to make different shoes for left and right feet.

1200 A.D.

: Buttons are first used in Europe.

1580 A.D.

: Pockets are sewn in men's trousers in Europe.

1823 A.D.

: Waterproof cloth is invented by Mackintosh, a Scotsman.

1849 A.D.

: The safety pin is invented by Walter Hunt, an American. Amelia Blooer begins to wear "bloomers" and campaign for more rational dress.

About 1850

: Queen Victoria and Prince Albert begin dressing the royal princes in sailor suits and kilts.

1851 A.D.

: The home sewing machine is patented by Isaac Singer in America.

1873 A.D.

: Jeans are made by Levi Straus, a Germant immigrant in America. In Vrance, educational officials begin to require that children wear smocks to school.

1885

: Frances Hodgsen Burnett publishes Little Lord Fauntleroy igniting the Fauntleroy craze for boys clothing.

1893

: The zipper, first used to fasten shoes, is patented by the American Whitcomb Jackson.

1906

: Lord Baden Powell choses short pants and kneesocks for the Boy Scout uniform.

1910

: Asian pajamas replace nightshirts in Europe.

1914-18

: World War I causes belingerent countries to ration clothing and to issue regulations requiring more practical styles.

1917

: Keds produces the tennis shoe which becomes a main-stay for American boys.

1927

: Synthetic fibers are made by combining coal and petroleum.

1930

: American women wear trousers for golf and horseback riding.

1935

: Polyurethane is developed and used for stretch cloth.

1939-45

: World War II causes belingerent countries to again ration clothing and to issue regulations requiring more practical styles.

1940

: Nylon stockings are sold in America, but the War soons divert production for military purposes such as a silk replacement in parachutes.

1942

: Polyester fabric is developed in America, but World War II pevents immediate mass marketing.

1960

: The Beatles become popular and begin to change boys' hair style fashions

1963

: John F. Kennedy Jr's bangs and shortalls become a popular fashion.

1957

: Velcro is patented by George de Mestral of Switzerland.

1970

: The growing popularity of basketball and soccer combine to make tube socks and short pants increasingly popular with American boys.

1975

: Calvin Klein begins the "designer" jeans era.






Christopher Wagner






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Ceated: June 17, 2001
Last updated: June 17, 2001