Ready made clothing in New Orleans

[Iceman]

I post this topic in the military discussion due to the fact that so many Trans-Mississippi Confederates - especially those from Louisiana fighting in Louisiana - were reliant upon what civilian clothing they could obtain, since the Central Government was unable to supply these soldiers (with emphasis placed upon the infantry) with Government produced clothing.

The following information comes from surviving receipts from General Richard Taylor's plantation - Fashion Plantation - in 1860. The following clothing items were purchased by Richard Taylor from ready made clothing shops in New Orleans on Canal Street. Keep in mind these clothing shops were not set up just for the slave trade, but were rather ready made clothing shops open for anyone's business - white or black, free or slave. These receipts open a small window into the kinds of fabrics being used for cheap, ready made clothing in New Orleans at the dawn of Civil War.

These receipts are housed at the Mansfield State Historic Site, Mansfield, La.

May 15, 1860
- 2 Georgia stripe dresses
- 2 Brown cotton chemises
- 4 Georgia stripe dresses, girls
- 4 Brown cotton chemises, girls

May 22, 1860
- 4 Calico dress
- 2 Blue dress

October 15, 1860
- 30 Red twilled flannel shirts
- 6 Kentucky linsey dresses, girls
- 6 Kentucky linsey __(?)__, girls
- 6 Plain twill shirts

November 3rd, 1860
- 3 Kentucky jeans coats, boys
- 3 Kentucky jeans pants, boys
- 3 __(?)__ shirts, boys
- 1 Kentucky linsey frock
- 1 Kentucky linsey __(?)__
- 1 Sowell(?) chemise

November 6, 1860
- 1 Grey satinet coat
- 1 Grey satinet vest
- 1 Grey satinet pants