Which early ready-to-wear goods were the initial focus after the sewing machine enabled mass production?
Answer
Durable goods like military uniforms and men's workwear.
The newly established ready-to-wear industry did not immediately target every type of apparel. The initial focus was placed on items where standardized sizing could be applied with relative ease and where durability was paramount. This led manufacturers to concentrate first on producing durable goods such as military uniforms and standardized men's workwear. This allowed the assembly line structure and the concept of off-the-rack purchasing to take hold efficiently before tackling more complex or fashion-driven items.
Related Questions
What constituted the assembly bottleneck before the sewing machine's breakthrough?What key inventions dramatically sped up thread and cloth creation during the initial Industrial Revolution phase?Where did the primary economic value of a garment shift after the widespread adoption of the sewing machine?By what factor did the sewing machine increase stitch speed compared to a very fast hand sewer?What organizational concept allowed efficiency to increase even beyond the speed of the sewing machine itself?What necessity drove the development of comprehensive, standardized size charts for clothing production?What stitch type, characterized by using a double thread, was characteristic of reliable, functional sewing machines?Which early ready-to-wear goods were the initial focus after the sewing machine enabled mass production?What fundamental skill requirement changed for clothing production workers post-1850s adoption of the machine?What later 20th-century machine specializations further drove factory efficiency and quality control?