A timeline of clothing reveals

A timeline of clothing reveals a small detail that many of you probably overlooked. The invention of the wire hanger in 1903. This was the beginning of the democratization of clothing (along with revolutions in textile manufacturing) because it opened the door to mass production and thus lower cost hangers. This past summer when I visited The Biltmore Estate I learned that when hangers first started showing up they were for the rich. Setting aside the dangers of asexual hanger reproduction and the fact that the hanger has no known predator in the wild, I found myself fascinated by their impact on society.

You see back in the bad ol’ days before hangers people folded their pants and put them in drawers. That’s not so bad you might think. Then came wooden hangers and with them a way to distinguish the rich from the poor. The creases on the rich people’s pants were different because they had hangers. It may have been a small detail but having the kind of creases you’d get from a hanger was important to fitting into high society. I’m not making this stuff up.

What is amusing is to see how that sort of nonsense has marched forward in time to what we have nowadays. At my workplace, and many others, they have this notion of “business casual.” You aren’t supposed to wear jeans or tennis shoes. In general you can sum it up as don’t wear clothes that laborers would wear. What rich, white, male enclave thinks this is important? More to the point, how do they keep perpetuating their classist notions of clothing? When I rule the world I will make sure that people wear what they think is best.

Food for thought: If you have some time read about who invented the hanger and you’ll notice no women were involved. I’ll tell you why. It’s because the hanger was an effort by that enclave I spoke of earlier to cling to class distinctions in clothing, something women had no interest in doing.

:)