Notes on his clothes meant for meaningful moments in citizens lives and it helped prepare the community for revolution. The emerging war blog, cohosted this event. We saved the best for last. She hates me for saying that. Were concluding with a topic thats close to home here in alexandria. Catherine gruber is the special curator. And earned her bachelors from university of washington and ma from the college of william and mary. She has contributed to the new revolutionary war museum at yorktown, a special exhibition curator, she helped with ten nas tee, william in jamestown in virginia, which i urge you to see and also forgotten soldier, africanamericans in the revolution, open now through march 22nd, 2020. Kate will present her topic, a tailor made revolution. So please welcome my good friend, kate gruber. Good afternoon. So youve got to get through me before we can get to happy hour, so i promise ill make that happen. Mark twain said it best, clothes make the man. Naked people have little to know influence on society. But mark twain also said the more i learn about people, the more i like my dog. So maybe we shouldnt exactly take his word for it. Also, he dressed like this. So why dont we go to the british author, robert campbell, who wrote in 1747 no man is ignorant that the tailor is the one who makes our clothes, to some he not only makes their dress, but in some measure may be said to make themselves flt so in short, clothes make the man. And in 18th century, in the 18th century, people really had a relationship with their clothing. A relationship or at least a knowledge of the tradesmen, the women, the merchants, seamstresses and slaved africans and those who had a role in producing or importing the clothing. This was true for alexandria, virginia, right here on the eve of the revolution. The residents of 18th century alexandria were part of a world that defined itself by adherence to strict hierarchies and orders and clothing and textile consumption presented a dichotomy, which was based on choice and the nature of the tailors trade. So today i want to take you on a journey. A journey through 18th century alexandria. A city on the eve of revolution. Our time machine is the only known surviving account book from a virginia tailor in the colonial and prerevolution period. Can everyone hear me okay . So utilizing this account book as our guy, my goal this afternoon is to give you just a glimpse of prerevolution engineer alexandria through the lens of how its residents acquired clothing and the lives they lived in their clothes. Hopefully what will emerge is a more complete picture of a city on the eve of revolution and how the simple everyday act of dressing had revolutionary consequences, or at the very least eliminate what some of alexandrias society wore to the revolution. So were going to get started right away. William carlin served the residents of alexandria as a tailor from 1763 to 1782. As the only known surviving account book from a virginia tailor from this colonial period, carlins records offer a very rare and unique insight into the world of consumerism material culture, a world in which zathey were deeply entrenched. His account book has the names of 130 customers who entered his shop to shop and have clothing made. It flourished after its founding in 1979 when the Virginia House of burgesss in williamsburg, they proposed, thank you, yes, william and mary i invite Public Participation in this presentation, so any time, just go for it. Thank you. So the house of burgesses proposed an act for erecting a town in the county of fairfax. So as a court town and you guys are realizing i am literally preaching to the choir here, alexandria thrived on imports and exports. They exported quite a lot of tobacco. Tobacco and wheat of course across the atlantic in exchange for other goods like rum, sugar and fashionable luxuries. Factors that weve also heard about today, operated stores and warehouses for scottish and english merchants who imported the goods across the atlantic. Eventually all of those goods made their way right here to alexandria. And by 1776, the city had a population of just under 2,000 in has been tents. That population would grow to about 5,000 by 1800. The residents of alexandria then were shipbuilders, carpenters, march ents, blacksmiths and enslaved africanamericans, tavern keepers and white indentured servants also found themselves here. Many were immigrants from england and scotland and one of them was a tailor named William Carlin. We dont have a portrait of William Carlin, so in my mind this is how i imagine him. Im going to let that sink in for a moment. Sort of middleaged, short and maybe a round figure. Perhaps working on a bald spot or a receding hairline from excessive worry that his lines werent quite right. But given the moments towards handmade goods and things sourced from local materials and now of course realize that carlin was ruffoughly the same as i am now, i certainly picture him a little bit more like this. To be fair, how about that . So unfortunately i havent been able to uncover too much about carlins life before he began his account book here. According to family histories, carlin was born in 1732, near a place in yorkshire in england. He then lived in london before immigrating to virginia. I dont know yet whether he completed his apprenticeship as a tailor in england or virginia. Probably in england. But he was 31 years old when he made his first notations in a new account book in 1763. So by then alexandria was a power base for emerging gentry who owns plantations, including influential planters like George Washington and george mason who lived within only a few miles of the city center. Merchants set up shops and made up most of the citys population. A Family History states that carlins shop was located on the corner of king and royal streets. Guess what, guys . We get to walk right by it when we go to happy hour. Heres a handy little directional map for you. Spent some time last night saying hello. Its a sur la table right now, conveniently located next to a subway. I told my husband thats why he was so young and thin. So you can see that carlins shop was very prominently located in the citys developing downtown. It must have been a visible feature on the landscape and customers didnt have to travel too far to visit the shop from the places where they themselves worked or lived. So of the customers in carlins account book where ive identified where theyve lived, and its a lot. No one was actually more than one mile away from carlins tailor shop and that includes george mason who owned a townhouse about 200 feet from carlins shop and George Washingtons townhouse is less than half a mile away at 508 cameron street, which is i guess thats north, which is not on the map but it would be just off this map here. So merchants and tradesmen like carlin were crucial links to gentry planters like mason and washington who really needed these luxury items, silks, linens, wools and cottens that would provide props for their social performance of dominance. Carlin supplied the men of alexandria with many of these props that they needed to perform this act. But the account book actually reveals that the customers who patronized carlins shop were a reflection of the citys demographics as a whole, which is fascinating. Before we can fully comprehend all of that, we need to talk a little bit about the relationship of the tailor to his clientele in the form of the aptly coined art and mystery of the tailors trade. This is important. So George Washington, weve talked a lot about George Washington today, when he ordered slits a ordered suits, he included the language the livery suits must be taken of men as nearest their size as you can judge. The servants are 59 and 54 height and proportionately made. So these were instructions that were essential communications to a tailor. If you were expecting him to construct a hand sewn fitted garment. So its important to remember here that until the very recent past, hand sewn clothing is not a luxury item that we associate it as today. Its actually just the simple fact of clothing construction. Until the mid 19th century, sand sewn remained the standard mode of production for any garment, whether its wearer was a wealthy member of the gentry, a middle artisan or enslaved. So men and women in the 18th century were familiar with a needle and thread and they could probably make some simple repairs, maybe some Household Items and linens as well. But fuller garments required the knowledge and skills of men and women who learned their trades through an apprenticeship with a master tailor. So articles such as breaches, coats and waistcoats, they fit closely and precisely to the body. They required the skills of a tailor to construct. The skill laid in his ability to fit and measure and cut garments for a man. This is just men here actually. I wanted to make a quick point. Im talking about men being customers because womens garment construction was completely different. Happy to talk about that at the q a. These are just men and mens garments here, with rare exceptions. Its the 18th century corset. Most lacked the ability to construct their own clothing, somewhere along the line they really needed to utilize the skills of a tailor at some point. Even the Virginia Company included a tailor in the First Expedition to jamestown in 1607. They sent six more tailors to the colony in 1806, making them most one of the most represented. And if you know anything that happens in 1607, the fact that their predominant preoccupation was we need more tailors, that says a lot. Okay . Theyre not eating, but got to look good. So that trend actually holds up throughout the 18th century. In the virginia gazette, tailors advertisements make up 6 of total tradesmens advertisements from 1736 to 1780. Only third behind tutors and doctors. In alexandria where carlin is, of course, a distribution of the citys occupations from 1764 to 1800 reveals that 20 of local artisans were involved in the clothing crafts and just like in 17th century jamestown, its second to those employed in the construction trades. So this is an important part of our everyday life in society. And this overwhelming number of tailors on the landscape speaks to their necessity in a society where individuals did not routinely make their own clothing. So why were tailors and their skills so important to communities like alexandria . According to one 18th century source, a tailor must be skillful enough to, quote, bestow a good shape where nature has not designed it. To accomplish this, a tailor needed to take systematic measurements across a mans body, detailed measurements. So may i have a volunteer from the audience, please, who knows french . Theres got to be somebody. Thank you. Because i dont want to butcher this on cspan. Please, maam, if you could read the title of this book for me, please. [ applause ] do you see why i didnt want to tackle that . I took latin. I am useless. So thank you for saving me from that embarrassment. This is a 1769 treatise on the art of tailoring and it chronicles 20 different measurements needed on a mans body in order to construct a wellfitted and wellcut suit. So the author has written in english, thankfully, a tailor must take the measurements of a person for whom the clothes are going to be made. A strip of paper, one inch wide of the requisite length is used. It is called a measurer. It is placed on the body wherever the size is required and each measurement is marked by a snip of the scissors. So these careful measurements ensured that the finished garment would fit the customer properly and the way garments fit a mans body was as important as his fabric choice. So George Washingtons relationship with clothing provides a really fun lens to explore the importance of cut and fit even further. When washington sent orders for clothes to london tailors, he consistently noted his large size and lanky stature. He was the tallest in continental congress. We learned that today. So he knew that these details were necessary in the construction of fitted clothing, so in an order for a suit, washington wrote to charles lawrence, let it be fit in other respects for a man full 6 feet high and proportionately made. Further correspondence from washington to london reveals that washington was not satisfied with the quality of the garments that he received. I have had my clothes made by one charles lawrence, but whether it is the fault of the tailor or of the measure sent, but my clothes have never fit me very well. So to eradicate his own frustrations with poorly fitted garments that he was receiving from london, washington turned to our hero, William Carlin. Washington brought to carlins shop coats that needed mending, beeches and suits that needed altering, with washington standing as his own modden, carlin would lengthen the beeches and restore an appropriate shape to the tall and proportionately made gentleman. Carlin charged washington one day altering our clothes to altering your gray coat, so on and so on. So as a gentleman in a prominent city im so sorry, youre going to have to look at George Washington for a while. George washington was at the top of alexandrias social ladder, so he did warn his friends not to conceive that fine clothes make fine men any more than Fine Feathers make fine birds. He knew as his elite contemporaries did how to dress the part. So weve seen that washington turned to carlin to fix the mistake of london tailors, but he also came to the local tailor for making new clothes. Washington ordered a variety of garments from carlins hands, including coats, waistcoats, leggings and more formal attire. Breaches were the most common garment and though he continued to place orders for suits and coats from his tailor in london, it seems that washington may have given up on charl lawrences ability to accurately judge the height of his client for the purpose of making comfortable and sasclothing. Wrote to him i think it is necessary to mention that i am full 6 feet high. I love how he just blames it on everybody else. Like no, im not gaining weight at all. So again, carlin to the rescue. He provided washington with the fitted and very fashionable clothing that he needed in order to maintain his place in alexandrias complex and social ord order. Revered and respected, washingtons taste set the bar for the remainder of society who were seeking to emulate fashionable dress. So far weve explored washingtons accounts with carlin but artisans, march ents and enslaved men also passed through the shop. The act of entering the tailor shop, the tailor space itself ensured that even for a brief moment, social mixing could be explored and experienced in this prerevolutionary space, which was quite rare in this time. Additionally the act of being measured and fit for clothing was something that all members of the social strata could experience. We are going to start exploring some of the other 130 members of alexandrias community who stepped inside the walls of carlins shop and accounted for the over 2,000 transactions in that surviving account book. So though carlin constructed garments for washington and mason and the fairfax family, at least 38 members of alexandrias merchant class sought his talents as well. Among the men is james kirk. Hopefully someone that you have heard of. Hes noted for hosting the british nick british, and John Carlisle also was a frequent customer in carlins shop. William carlin had a strong working relationship with the artisans of the city as well. So customers in this category represent a crosssection of the men who worked with their hands in dirty shops, such as black smith bill cooper, and silversmith Charles Turner. He produced 305 garments for alexandrias artisans, including 38 waistcoats, 36 coats and 17 suits, with fabric choices that ranged from a sell vet suit for hatter to a country cloth suit for silversmith Charles Turner with silk waistcoats, and drab suits in between. So carlin also served other equally visible yet marginal members of alexandrias society, the enslaved africanamericans and white indentured servants who worked on the plantations and in the homes, and in the workshops and tav earerns as we. He made clothing for artisans that made clothing for their apprentices. So builder James Parsons purchased clothes for two of his apprentices. They would later train to become bricklayers. Alexandrias free citizens also utilized a workforce of both white indentured servants and enslaved africanamericans and many customers in carlins accounts really have not been identified. I havent been able to figure out who they are. And thats because at this time alexandria really relied heavily on white indentured servitude and its possible to assert that many of these unidentified individuals were members of this social class here in alexandria. So just one example is alexandria merchant robert adam. He made purchases for himself and at least 12 other individuals that are only identified by their first name. Sop its possible that some of them were enslaved or otherwise somehow part of adams working household. So further to this point, carlins accounts provide an interesting view of how members of alexandrias enslaved Community Acquired clothing, as well as what they wore. The livery accounts for over 50 of the clothing that carlin produced for enslaved men, he constructed myriad garments for members of the enslaved community, as i mentioned, by alexandrias merchant population, too. Interestingly, clothing made specifically for the enslaved members of alexandrias community account for over 10 of the total transactions in the account book as a whole and 37 of carlins customers also purchased clothing for enslaved men, at the same time they purchased clothing for themselves. I should have mentioned to you that im a quantitative historian and i dont think i included that in my biography. I think thats the most math youre going to hear today. But the types of clothing that carlin produced for these men, its typical of what any man would receive from his tailor. In all, carlin produced 90 coats, 58 pairs of breaches, 39 suits and 14 frocks, for enslaved men owned by other alexandria citizens. So i would like to do a bit of a deep dive here further into the clothing that carlin made for these enslaved members of alexandrias society because we really know precious little about this very prominent and visible part of the citys population. And through carlins account book we gain so much more insight into their material lives on the eve of revolution. So carlins accou