Dandy clothing question

[Guy Gane III]

Friends,

I have a question. I know that Brooks Brothers manufactured a run of New York jackets and my question is this... did Confederate officers wear Burberry of London? Is there any reference to such an occurance. Burberry was founded in 1856 and since it has always been a fine clothier, I was wondering if anyone has ever come across such an instance.

Interested,

[JustRob]

Re: Dandy clothing question

A minute's research revealed the following:

Burberry was founded in 1856 when 21-year-old Thomas Burberry, a former draper's apprentice, opened his own store in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England.

By 1870 the business had established itself by focusing on the development of outdoors attire.

In 1880 Thomas Burberry invented gabardine, a hardwearing, water-resistant, yet breathable fabric, in which the yarn is waterproofed before weaving. Gabardine was patented in 1888.

Do you think a small English store would have been selling uniforms to Confederates between 1861 and 1865?

[Guy Gane III]

Re: Dandy clothing question

Nope. Didn't know how they started. Thanks.

[Stonewall_Greyfox]

Re: Dandy clothing question

While I would generally agree with where this discussion is going...the following isn't a fair question:

"Do you think a small English store would have been selling uniforms to Confederates between 1861 and 1865?"

The bottom line is not that I don't think this coud/could not have happened...it's that in most cases we don't know. Like many things, I think if you looked hard enough, you'd find plenty of examples of small companies from a variety of places providing uniforms, accoutrements...etc. to the Confederacy between 1861-1865.

Don't forget in almost every war throughout history, when a government is forced to rely upon contract goods, you will see a companies "pop-up" to fulfill the need...sometimes these companies don't just limp-on or disappear, they actually prosper for many generations.