The Use and Consumption of Clothing in the Past (over 65)

  We all know how the modern world functions when it comes to the use and consumption of clothing. Now, we belong to a society of overconsumption, but can we actually say the same about the societies existing fifty or sixty or even seventy years ago?

That is something we are about to discover through the following results of this survey.

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  All of the participants of this survey are above the age of 65, and the majority of them live in the town of Trikala Greece, with the exception of some having permanent residency in villages outside of it.

The ages of the participants ranged between 65 to83, with a great number of them being in their late sixties and early seventies. The average number of the people within a family in their early years was about 7 people per family, but there were some cases in which this number was a bit higher, around 8 to 9 people per family, too.

Half of the participants claim that they had a sewing machine in their homes, but at the same time, a great number of people didn't have one. Instead, those homes had a weavingloom.

Most households were self-sustained as regards the clothing department, as they took care of and produced their own clothing with the use of the fabrics that they made. Usually, as one can interpret from the statistics above, most of the items produced consisted of both children and adults' clothing, as well as the fabrics that they were made of, since those were the main things people were in need of. Yet, there was a minority of people who produced other things, such as blankets, carpets, knitted wall art pieces, handmade woven art pieces, bags and embroidery.

Typically, the male members of the household did not bother with anything themselves and weren't taught any knowledge of the handcrafts either. Traditionally, from a young age, women were taught how to make a number of things by the previous generations of women in their family and social circle. They were mainly taught how to mend clothes, embroider and knit and crochet garments.

As previously mentioned, the women of the family were the ones responsible for the handcrafting, and that also applies in the mending of the clothing of all members of the household. Usually, the older women were the ones in charge of whatever corrections that needed to be made.

Generally, the careand maintenance of the clothing, as it was a household chore, was, again, performed by all the female members of all ages. The washing and mending was done by both older women and younger girls alike, but since ironing was a bit more dangerous and required more expertise and cautiousness, it was mainly done by the older women of the family.

In the older times, when clothing was scarce and most people couldn't afford new clothes all the time, the majority of them were passed onto younger generations because this was more practical and saved a lot of money as well as maintained the tradition and culture. In addition, the unused clothes were turned into rags or were unstitched in order to be made into something that served other purposes. Some of the clothes were also given to the poor. The burning of excessive materials was something that - although it didn't happen on a big scale - was a practice used in certain cases.

It was very common to reuseclothes and passthem onto younger people, and it benefited a lot of families to do so. Therefore, most households resorted to that option in order to decrease the economic demand of the family, since the materials still had a practical use and purpose which would be a waste of resources were the clothes to be thrown away. However, there was still a number of people who were in a somewhat better situation and could afford to buy extra clothing along with work uniforms.

Those who answered "Yes" to the previous question claim that they bought their first garment when they were about to enter or had just started their adolescence. The ages ranged from 10 to 14 years old and the reasons varied depending on the person. Some bought their first garment because of religious celebrations, like Christmas or Easter, and some bought their first garment because of school, specifically middle school, where uniforms were required.

At the age of 16, about 75% of the participants had about one or two garments bought or made by a dressmaker that year, while the remaining 25% had more than three garments bought or made. The participants that had a higher number of clothes were mainly men, because, as they explained, that was the age when they had started working outside their home and needed extra clothes.

In the last question, "How many shoes did you have when you were around 16 years old?", about 24 participants claimed that they had only one pair of shoes used for all occasions. The remaining participants claimed they had two or more pairs of shoes for various occasions.  Those participants were working and had to look more presentable in their job.

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Through this survey we can understand that the oldest generation's clothing habits and use was inclined more inwards since the family produced their own materials and, in turn, clothing. They had knowledge on basic things, such as mending etc, meaning they could be self-sufficient, and they "recycled" their own clothes by passing them over through the bloodline. However, we must remember that times then were pretty difficult, and that explains many traditions, which, in fact, were ways to provide for each other and make sure everyone had everything they needed, even if that was the bare minimum. Nothing was wasted then and that is how those people managed to survive.

  In a nutshell, this survey was a great opportunity to learn about the older ways of living and to, also, reflect on our consumption habits; think about how we can be more self - sufficient on our own and learn to be more conservative with our spending habits.

-a presentation done by Dimitra Gouzioti and Vasiliki Zianou

https://youtu.be/nOa9Ec2ehgI (under 20 years of age)