Why Are Our Clothes Made To Standard Sizes?

Like so much in American life, the standard clothing sizes we use today can be traced back to the Civil War. If that answer sounds glib, it isn?t meant to be. The Civil War was the pivotal event in American history, marking a transition to the modern era, and heralding changes that stood until the 1940s. It even changed the way we buy our clothes.

Antebellum Clothing Sizing

Prior to the Civil War, the overwhelming majority of clothing, for men and women, was tailor-made or home-made. There was a limited variety of mass produced, standardized clothing items, mainly jackets, coats, and undergarments, but even these were only produced in limited quantities. For the most part, clothing for men was made on an individual basis. The Civil War changed that.

Mass Producing Uniforms

During the war, the Northern and Southern armies both needed large quantities of uniforms in a hurry. The South, without a large industrial base, relied primarily on home manufacture for uniforms, and through the war Southern armies typically suffered from a shortage of clothing. The North changed garment making history forever.

It quickly became apparent that the Northern armies could not be supplied with uniforms using traditional modes of clothing production. Fortunately, the North had a well developed textile industry that could meet the challenge.

When the government began to contract with factories for mass produced uniforms, the textile manufacturers quickly realized that they could not make every uniform for a particular soldier. The only option was to standardize the soldiers? uniforms. They sent tailors to the armies, to measure the men, and saw that certain measurements, of arm length, chest size, shoulder width, waist size, and inseam length, would appear together with reliable regularity. Using this mass of measurement information, they put together the first size charts for men?s clothing.

After the War

So why didn?t the textile companies go back to the older production methods after the Civil War? The answer lies in profits, as with many things in business. Clothing manufacturers saw that the standardized sizes they had introduced significantly reduced the manufacturing cost of men?s clothing; rather than make one item for one man, they could make one size of an item, mens jackets for example, for a group of men. Suddenly, clothing was easier to produce, mass production became the staple of discount men?s clothing, and the clothing industry would never be the same again.…

Buy Stylish and Trendy Clothes for Kids Through Online Shopping Stores

The season of summer is in full blow hence all parents are gearing-up for shopping to buy new-born baby clothes so that their innocent ones can look cute and brave the heat. Do you think that shopping for kid’s clothing is a daunting task for you? Do you hardly get time to hit your local stores? If you are trying to find out a right solution then the information furnished in this article will benefit you in a great way.

Online shopping of new born baby clothes or designer baby clothes is a convenient and easy task. Imagine you are sitting on your couch with your toddler on your lap and purchasing lovely apparels for dressing up your cute and sweet angel. Isn’t it great, enjoyable and time-saving for you?

There are several advantages of virtual shopping. Most importantly, you can rescue yourself from annoying procedure of pushing through the annoying crowd with your kids. Convenience is something that one cannot ignore here. Online shopping assists you avoid the headaches of weary queuing up and meandering from store to store to get a beautiful dress for your little angel. By clicking mouse for few minutes, you can flick through various shops in fraction of seconds and get the best apparel for your baby boy or girl.

When it comes to virtual buying of goods, sky is the limit. Unlimited choices of new-born baby clothes are an additional benefit you can avail with online shopping. You can select between extensive ranges of clothes available in web based clothing stores. Nowadays, a lot of prominent brands that specialises in designer baby clothes have opened their own shop where shoppers can buy the right kind of designer baby clothes for their children. These stores remain open round the clock and you can buy baby clothes even late hours as well. All you need to do is sit within the privacy and comfort of your home squeeze in some time from your life for shopping.

In addition to this, when you buy new-born baby clothes through virtual stores, you get marvellous deals and wonderful discounts. A number of eminent clothing brands try to cheer shoppers to buy online by endowing them with exciting schemes on designer baby clothes on various occasions. All the items showcased in an internet based store have images, price range, discounts, and customer reviews as well. This will assist you in choosing the perfect item for your toddler

While purchasing apparels for your kids online make sure you scan the enormous world of internet carefully. Do your homework and make a list of renowned clothing websites that goes well with your taste, style and budget.

So, when it comes to select the beautiful clothes for your kids through web, you have various attractive options available over web to choose from. With this information, now you can easily buy apparels for your children without hacking into many problems.…

Christian T-shirts And Gifts: Express Your Beliefs

Almost everyone enjoys and wears t-shirts on a regular basis. It?s one of the only articles of clothing that people can feel comfortable in and still look great. If you are looking for a certain t-shirt, chances are you will be able to find it because there are so many kinds of t-shirts and t-shirt companies out there. It?s a very profitable industry that has many different options available for different people. T-shirts are a great way to make a statement, whether it?s a fashion statement or a statement of a certain belief. You can say something with a t-shirt without ever saying a word.

One of the things that people like to express on t-shirts is their Christian beliefs. Christian t-shirts are a great way to display how you feel about your faith. The message on the shirt can be something as simple as ?I believe? or different statements about Jesus or God. A Christian t-shirt can also have a scripture from the Bible that means something special to the person wearing it. A Christian t-shirt can also be a little bit flashier with different graphical elements or a famous quotes or Christian teaching. There really is no end to what you can put on a Christian t-shirt, just as long as it talks about your Christian beliefs or your faith.

A Christian t-shirt is a great gift to give to other Christians or for treating yourself. They are great for special events and occasions as well like Vacation Bible School or for any other time such as a Birthday, Anniversary, etc. It?s just the perfect gift to give that person who loves to share how they feel about their Christian beliefs. A t-shirt says a lot about a person, and what better way to say how you feel about a certain subject then to state it right there on your t-shirt for the world to see.

You can also put your Christian message on other objects as well, not just t-shirts. You can get these messages printed on things like coffee mugs, tote bags, sweatshirts, key chains, ties, teddy bears, hats and other things. If it can be printed on, chances are you can customize it for your needs. So if you don?t feel like giving a t-shirt as a gift, there other gift items you can as well and they can produce the same desired effect as the t-shirts do.

You often have the ability to customize whatever you want to and have it printed, but there are also a lot of great designs already available to you. There are some that are very straightforward while others can play with different popular cultural references while still being able to give the Christian message across. With all the creativity out there, it really not hard to find that perfect t-shirt of gift to give or buy for yourself. It?s just an all around great way to express and tell the word how you feel about your faith or your beliefs.…

Change With The Time Change Your Fashion

Time changes and everything else too. Very few things last forever, rest everything changes as the time passes away. Even people have to change with the time. I do believe that a man should keep progressing and upgrading himself with the changing fashion and trends. It’s hard being left behind when everyone else around you is adapting new trends. So better upgrade yourself with the changing time by adapting latest fashion styles and trends.

In order to keep pace with the moving world, I keep on changing myself as the time demands. I always upgrade myself according to time and fashion. I have become an online shopper from a regular mall shopper and I follow the changes that fashion brings. I keep myself updated with new innovation taking place in fashion world. A decade ago, it was quite difficult to figure out what’s new happening in the world of fashion. One has to explore many stores and malls to be updated with latest style, but now it is not so difficult. In fact following latest trends has never been so easy as it is now. Fashion designers have publicized their collections by retailing them through their online stores. You will find the latest designer clothes by browsing their websites. I am very much fond of designer men’s shirts and denims. I buy shirts online without intruding my schedule and routine work and it really makes me happy. Searching latest trends at malls and stores was tiring, but now just few clicks and I find latest designer wears delivered to me at my home. This is what I call a real change.

Changing your fashion style matters a lot because fashion is your impression. Your style shows your attitude, your clothings reflect your mannerism. Changing fashion and adapting latest style means you are upgrading your living style and are improving your social image. All you need to do is go through a good online store and pick apparels of your choice from the wide range of latest designer clothes. For men, I would suggest They have the most unique and impressive men’s collection. Their exquisite designer men’s shirts are beyond comparison and their men denims are what I call Top-Notch. At very first sight on their stylish men’s collection, I sensed that I found what exactly I was looking for. Talking in real sense I found my leading style at Monteil. In same way there are some good online stores available for women too. Change has to be for everyone, whether man or woman. Change is the spice of life.

We all know the famous maxim, “By changing nothing, nothing changes”.

You will find yourself at same place where you have been staying since ages, whereas the world will have moved on far ahead. I am sure that is not what you want or you wish for. So better be the part of changing world by changing your fashion…!!…

My Online Shop Is Now Ready: How Do I Make It As Safe As I Can?

We’ve seen and heard about the recent events as far as online fraud goes. More and more of us are buying goods over the internet, and with this comes an inevitable increase in concern over credit and debit card fraud. However, there are things you can put in place to protect both yourself and your customers from the perils of online scamming.
First off, any reputable ecommerce software platform should let you create an online shop for a low, fixed monthly price. It’s pretty much a given that with the boom in online shopping, all companies underneath the ‘e-tail’ umbrella should have a space on the internet to advertise and sell their products. Having access to your own ecommerce website isn’t new news; perhaps understanding how to gain customer confidence is.
In other words, your customers ought to safe in the knowledge that their personal details and credit/debit information is in great hands. And this, as a respective online shop owner, is your responsibility. Where newer and/or smaller businesses are concerned, it’s even more important to build up customer trust and this means getting it right from the offset. Clients are less likely to hand over their sensitive data if they see no good reason to do so.
The basic things you must do to create a professional and trustworthy image are listed below:
1. Display the padlock symbol
Any ecommerce website using secure technology should begin their web address with ‘https’ accompanied by a padlock symbol further down the page. There’s nothing complicated about taking steps to ensure security; all personal details exchanged online should be protected. The way to check that you’re on a secure page is to check the security information by double clicking on padlock symbol. Simple.
2. Use a respected payment gateway
Whilst there are many payment providers to choose from, we find many online shop owners turning to SagePay, PayPal and Google Checkout to process their customers’ card information. It’s advisable to check with you ecommerce provider which payment gateways are compatible with your online shop, then go from there. Note that by using a third party system you are passing on the responsibility of stockpiling sensitive credit/debit card, protecting both yourself and your online business.
You must take care not to put your client’s personal information at risk by attempting to use offline processing methods. Should you use a streamline terminal or PDQ once an order has been placed, you are paving the ground for potential hacking and risk extortionate fines – so do refrain. Make your ecommerce website look and feel like a safe place to shop, and you can’t go far wrong.…

Shopping Malls – Revolutionizing the Concept of Shopping

Shopping Malls – Revolutionizing the Concept of Shopping

Shopping is a necessity for some, a chore. For others, it’s a way of life, a passion. No matter which of these categories you fall into, you know the importance of shopping at the right place. The right place is dependent on your specific needs. You have the small stores, the mom and pop operations, the department stores and of course, the king of them all, the shopping mall. The mall is where it is all at – food, clothes, electronics and so much more. Every mall is different and offers its own unique culture, but malls as a whole offer many distinct and advantageous shopping benefits.

Easy, Breezy

People are always looking for convenience and this applies to virtually every aspect of life. Shopping is no different. Shopping malls are the ultimate in convenience. Everything you need is under one building for your shopping enjoyment. You don’t have to worry about driving all over town to get a shirt here, a phone there or a bite to eat way over yonder. Go to the mall, park your car and get everything you need with convenience and ease. You’re saving on gas, time and saving yourself the headache of being in unnecessary traffic. It doesn’t get any more convenient than that.

Choices Galore

Shopping malls are known for their variety. Just think about it. You may go to a store and hate every dress they have, you may be restricted on time and may not have time to go to another store on the other side of town. This isn’t an issue in a shopping mall. If you hate all the outfits in one particular store, no problem; simply walk a few feet to the next store. There’s a store to suit every need, taste and picky customer imaginable. You are bound to find what you are looking for based on the pure abundance of stores available.

Beyond Shopping

Of course, malls are not just about shopping. Malls are about entertainment as well. You can go to the mall without shopping at all. Do you want to catch a movie? Go to the mall. Most major malls offer up-to-date, modern movie theatres. Do you want a nice meal? Don’t fret. Go to the mall. Malls are not just about fast food and hotdogs on sticks. Malls can offer a variety of fine dining. Chinese, Italian, Japanese, Mexican, you have a plethora of restaurants at your disposal. Do you want to do something really fun? How about ice skating? Maybe even zip lining? You probably have a good shot at doing this at your local mall.

A mall’s first priority is shopping, but they are so much more than that. They are about convenience, ease, variety and entertainment. They are all about providing the consumer with choices and allowing them to have a good time while they are at it. A good shopping mall can just be a click away. Go online and see what others are saying about local shopping malls. The right mall could be just around the corner.…

If You Want To Take Sanibel Home, Buy Something At The Island’s Chico’s

A baby boomer (barely) with an eclectic eye on design, I was a prime marketing target for Chico’s. When I experienced my first Chico’s on Sanibel Island, however, I thought it was an island shop, and not a national chain.

Since then, I have shopped in Chico’s around the country, but nothing approached the fun of that first Sanibel Chico’s excursion, nor did the merchandise appeal as much.

So I can’t say that I love Chico’s as strongly as I can say I love the Chico’s on Sanibel.

And I guess I am not alone as the tiny island has been able to support not just one but two shops, though I must confess to only shopping in the original Chico’s on Palm Ridge. There, the store manager entices me with tales of the founding of Chico’s and resolved my confusion with the name.

Since chico in Spanish means boy, I was initially surprised that the store is solely women’s apparel. But the manager showed me who the real Chico was, and that not only dismissed my confusion but added to the charm of shopping in the original store.

In the current economy, despite the great merchandising of Chico’s, I am concerned that an island the size of Sanibel could continue to sustain two shops with the same name and both selling only women’s clothing.

It certainly has been national news that other enterprises from Starbucks to CompUSA have closed some of their stores. And there have been hints such as those posted on that Chico’s net profits have been falling.

Which leaves me feeling bad that an annual tradition I began with the first shopping spree was abandoned on this recent stay on Sanibel. Though each visit to the Island has til now been combined with a visit to the store, our own personal financial concerns deterred me from going shopping in the usual manner.

I hope to make up for this lapse on our next vacation. And, if you want to discover who the real Chico is, I encourage you to go to the store and ask to see Chico’s picture.

Oh, and while you’re there, pick up an item or two so that we can assure that Sanibel’s Chico’s does not join the growing roster of store closings!…