Overview and Just-for-Fun

Number of patents issued in the United States for sewing-related machines and accessories between 1840 and 1875: over 7,000⁵⁵

The average annual income of an American family with one child during World War I: $1,505⁶⁸
Average portion of that income spent on clothing for the family: $238⁶⁹

Percentage of American companies that allowed business casual dress for all employees in 1998: 97%⁸²
Percentage of American companies that allowed business casual dress by employees in 2000: 87%⁸³

Women Workers

Number of American Women Employed for Wages

1880: 2,647,157⁵⁶
1890: 4,005,532⁵⁸
1910: 8,075,772⁶⁰

Proportion of All Females Over Age Ten Employed for Wages

1880: 14.69%⁵⁷
1890: 17.40%⁵⁹
1910: 18.10%⁶¹

Percentage of Women with Annual Incomes (1939)

Below $100: 23%⁷¹
Between $100 and $999: 56%⁷²
Between $1,000 and $4,999: 17.4%⁷³

Number of Women Employed in U.S. Clothing Factories

1890: 237,270⁶²
1920: 265,643⁶³

The Rise of the American Fashion Industry

The Undergarment Industry

Cost of a breast supporter in the Sears, Roebuck catalog in 1917: 98¢⁶⁴
Cost of brassieres from the G. M. Poix Company in the 1910s: $1.50 to $4.50⁶⁵
Cost of brassieres from the Model Brassiere Company of New York in 1915: 50¢ to $7.50⁶⁶

Number of brassiere brands on the U.S. market in 1918: 52⁶⁷

Fixed wages for brassiere and corset industry workers, as fixed by the National Recovery Act in 1933: $14 per week, or 35¢ per hour for 40 hours⁷⁰

Total intimate apparel retail sales in the United States in 1954: $828 million⁷⁶
Percentage of intimate apparel sales produced by New York-based companies in 1954: over 60%⁷⁷
Number of U.S. undergarment workers in 1954: 112,234⁷⁸
Percentage of undergarment workers employed in New York in 1954: 35%⁷⁹

Number of U.S. undergarment workers in 2002: 11,856⁸⁰
Total intimate apparel retail sales in the United States in 2002: $12 billion⁸¹

American Jeans Market

Percentage of the American jeans market absorbed by Wrangler, Lee, Rider and Rustler brands in 1996: 30%⁹⁴
Percentage absorbed by Levi Strauss in 1996: 19%⁹⁵
Percentage absorbed by high-end, designer jeans made by Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, and others in 1996: 15%⁹⁶

Decline in Levi's sales after the designer jean boom, from 1996 to 2007: over 40%⁹⁷

Levi Strauss & Co.

Gross revenue in 1995: $6.7 billion⁸⁷
Net revenue in 1995: over $700 million⁸⁸

2002 hourly salary of an American factory worker who sewed zippers in Levi's jeans: $14⁸⁹

The Fashion Industry on a Global Scale

2002 Hourly Salary of Apparel Workers

In Guatemala: 37¢⁹⁰
In China: 28¢⁹¹
In Nicaragua: 23¢⁹²
In Bangladesh: 13-20¢⁹³

Total U.S. Apparel Imports

1989: $24.5 billion⁸⁴
2001: $63.8 billion⁸⁵

Percentage of all apparel sold in the U.S. during the last quarter of 2001 that was imported: 83%⁸⁶

Americans Employed in Apparel Manufacturing

1950: 1.2 million⁷⁴
2001: 566,000⁷⁵

Free Trade

Percentage increase in dressing-gown imports to the U.S. from China from 2000 to 2003: 1,484%¹⁰⁰
Percentage increase in cotton knit shirts, blouses and cotton trouser imports to the U.S. from China from 2004 to 2005: more than 1,000%¹⁰¹
Percentage increase in man-made fiber underwear imports to the U.S. from China from 2004 to 2005: more than 300%¹⁰²