Silk bandings, beltings, bindings, etc., not over 12 inches wide-Rates of duty. Act of Par. 1890 1894 300 1897 389 * Tariff classification or description. Rates of duty, specific and ad valorem. 45 per cent ad valorem. 50 per cent ad valorem. 412 Webbings, gorings, suspenders, braces, beltings, bindings, 50 per cent ad valorem. 1909 401 1913 316 * Do. ** bandings, including hatbands, belts, beltings, bindings, 45 per cent ad valorem. (For Court and Treasury decisions, see surveys on cotton smallwares and on laces and embroideries.) SILK WEARING APPAREL. SUMMARY. All wearing apparel of silk, except knit goods and wearing apparel ornamented in any of the ways specified in paragraph 358, is included in paragraph 317 of the act of 1913. The manufacture of wearing apparel is not divided according to materials, but rather according to the character of garment made. It is therefore connected with the manufacture of woolen, cotton, and linen goods. There are no definite figures as to the size of the industry, but it undoubtedly runs into many millions. The size of the establishments varies from large internationally known houses to small shops working on a contract basis. All large cities are to some extent centers of garment manufacture, but by far the greatest part of the industry, particularly in silks, is carried on in New York. Exports of silk wearing apparel, which were first recorded in 1918, have run from $2,556,166 in that year to $10,016,045 in 1920. Because of general commercial conditions, exports for 1921 were much less than for 1920, but, even with this decrease, exports for 1921 were over $1,500,000 greater than imports for the same year. Pre-war imports averaged somewhat less than $5,000,000 annually. This decreased abruptly during war years. The recovery in 1920 and 1921 is the result partly of a reaction in favor of more elaborate garments, but it is due chiefly to lower foreign prices. Large quantities of French hand-made blouses, underwear, and various other articles of clothing, were bought because of the exceedingly low prices in France. Japan is the second country of importance in our import trade in wearing apparel. This represents definite lines of Japanese goods, particularly kimonos. Men's wearing apparel forms a small part of the total imports, but what there is usually comes from the United Kingdom. The organization and efficiency of the garment trade are such that the American manufacturers are not apprehensive of foreign competition. They are dependent upon outside sources only for ideas as to the trend of fashion because of the acknowledged style ascendancy of Paris. GENERAL INFORMATION. DESCRIPTION. Wearing apparel has been defined by the Supreme Court as "articles which are ordinarily worn-dress in general. Ready-made clothing is clothing made to stock as distinguished from clothing made to order. Paragraph 317 of the act of 1913 provides for all silk wearing apparel except that which is ornamented with lace or embroidery. Wearing apparel composed of silk and india rubber is specially mentioned in the tariff act, but is dutiable at the same rate as other plain silk wearing apparel and statistics are not separately stated. Silk wearing apparel represents a broad manufacturing field; in fact it embraces several separate and distinct industries, distinct from one another according to the garment made, but inextricably bound up with the manufacture of similar garments of other materials. For example, manufacturers of dresses seldom make any other type of wearing apparel, not even waists and blouses, which represent a well defined and well organized industry, or women's underwear, which has various subdivisions. Men's shirts are made by concerns of one class, men's neckties by another, and usually men's underwear by another. Thus it will be seen that there are at least six specific industries comprehended under the general caption "wearing apparel" and few establishments in any one of the six is devoted exclusively to making silk garments. The average articles of dress are all required in such large quantities that standardization with its consequent economies is possible in all these lines. Although little different equipment is necessary for different branches of the industry, for example, skirts and dresses, specialization on one or the other develops greater efficiency in the labor and involves less intricate buying and selling organizations. The difficulty of securing accurate statistical data in regard to silk wearing apparel is evident. This difficulty is heightened by the number of small concerns in each industry and by the impossibility of separating ornamented and unornamented wearing apparel in the trade, although separately provided for in the tariff act. The information in this survey has consequently been based primarily upon interviews with men in the trade, with trade associations, and representatives of trade journals, and with the examiners at the United States Appraisers' Stores at the port of New York. Men's clothing, such as shirts and neckties, constitute a substantial proportion of plain silk wearing apparel, but certain lines of women's wear, tailored blouses and tailored underwear, which have had considerable vogue, would also fall within this classification. DOMESTIC PRODUCTION. Materials. The United States is the largest silk manufacturing country in the world, especially producing quantities of the silks of medium quality which are used in ready-made clothing. The very best silks are also made in this country, but probably at a somewhat greater cost than would be required for similar silks in older silk manufacturing countries. One manufacturer of the highest type of women's clothing states that, in general, American silks are superior to the foreign. Imports of dress goods, practically all of which come from France are usually novelties or special style features which do not represent any appreciable amount of the quantity used by the industry. They are largely Jacquard designs, or Jacquard designs made with metal thread, or plain metal thread cloth; in fact, practically all of the metal thread cloth used is imported, and the quantity would vary from season to season according to the exigencies of fashion. A second class of dress goods imported consists of plain woven goods in fancy prints of elaborate design produced in small quantities. A third class is made up of plain goods of fine quality woven of finer thread and more compactly than the American and having a more lustrous finish. Practically every weave of silk on the market is used by dress manufacturers, but materials accepted in other lines are more limited. Silks cut up for underwear must be washable, hence crêpe de chine, piece dyed taffetas, such as radium and the trade-marked "Pussy Willow," and wash satins are well adapted for this purpose. Shirts, also, must be of materials that will readily stand laundering; crêpe de chine, often having colored stripes or stripes of satin weave, and taffetaline, which is a shirting having a spun silk filling in taffeta ground weave with a satin stripe, are two types of silk shirting produced in large quantities by domestic weavers. Japan supplies a large proportion of the silks used for shirtings, particularly pongees, habutai, and fugi, any of which may be plain or striped. These, with some crêpes, have been imported in considerable quantities during the last few years. Tie silks are a very distinct class, the better grades being made in only small quantities of one design, the principal reason for imports, which are fancies and novelties. In the tie industry, imports represent a larger proportion to the total consumed than in any other cutting-up industry. The best grades in conservative patterns come from England, the more conspicuous designs from France, and cheaper grades from Italy. The English silks of exclusive design come in squares about 28 inches by 28 inches, frequently only three such pieces in one design and those in different colors. The French silks are not made in squares, but are sold by the yard, a few yards of one piece to a customer. No line of the silk wearing apparel industry is dependent upon foreign material, and most manufacturers profess a preference for American silks. Equipment. Little specialized equipment is necessary in the manufacture of wearing apparel, the most important being the ordinary sewing machine, or power sewing machine, with all its various modifications and adaptations, and in large standardized establishments the electric cutter, besides button-sewing and button-holing ma chines, various machines for applying trimming, and mechanical devices for pressing, an essential operation in the industry. Equipment for the manufacture of wearing apparel of any kind, although representing a large outlay of capital for an establishment of much size, is not difficult to secure, all being made in this country. The sewing machine is an American invention and now highly perfected, manufactured by large, heavily capitalized concerns. Šimilar machines are also made abroad, but the quality of the American product is attested by the number exported. In the calendar year 1918 exports of sewing machines amounted to over $8,000,000, and in 1919 to over $12,500,000. Because of the large number of machines shipped abroad, some wearing apparel manufacturers, especially manufacturers of shirts, fear that this is indicative of a growth in the wearing apparel industry in other countries, which will jeopardize their interests in the American market. Methods of production.-Conditions under which wearing apparel is made differ so widely that there is great variety in the methods of production. Some articles, such as shirts, neckties, underwear, and the cheaper grades of women's garments, lend themselves to quantity production and standardization, but in the more expensive lines only a few garments may be made according to one model, as the trade which can afford to pay higher prices demands exclusiveness. Organization. This difference in the character of the output leads to great variations in the organization of firms manufacturing wearing apparel. Where more or less standardization is possible, they are made on the factory system, but in many cases such goods are made in customs shops, and even by individuals. Practices vary widely within any given branch of the industry. In silk dresses, for example, there is the large manufacturer producing quantities of dresses according to few models each season. There are smaller houses, which make up fewer dresses in greater variety to sell to the retailer, and there are the very exclusive shops which make and retail the dresses in one establishment. Some large wholesale houses make the dresses in their own shops, some send out the materials and designs on contract, and some buy from small manufacturers. There is no hard and fast line between any of these classes of establishments. Similar differences exist in other branches of the wearing-apparel industry. Men's shirts and neckties, although made by large factories, are also made by shops, sometimes of the most exclusive sort. There is much variation in the size of establishments. Such comparatively simple machinery is required that the manufacture of wearing apparel is frequently started on a small scale. As it is not the materials but the types of garments produced which represent lines of demarcation in the industry, no statistics concerning the silk wearing-apparel industry are available either from census reports or from trade associations. The character of ownership in the clothing industry in general is described in the census report of 1914, as follows: "Of the entire number of establishments reported for the industry in 1914, 42.9 per cent were under individual control, 16.8 per cent were operated by corporations, and 40.2 per cent were under 'all other' forms of ownership. This last group includes general and limited partnerships, cooperative associations, and any other form of ownership not classed as 'individuals' or 'corporations.' Establishments in this group reported 41.9 per cent of the average number of wage earners and 44.4 per cent of the value of products. The large percentage of 'all other' is caused by such a condition in New York State, which reported 68.9 per cent of the total number of establishments, 64.2 per cent of the total average number of wage earners, and 72.9 per cent of the total value of products, and naturally affected the totals for the United States."24 Geographical distribution.—A large proportion of the industry is located in New York, but all large cities are centers of silk wearingapparel manufacture. Besides New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore in the East, Chicago and Cleveland in the Middle West, and Los Angeles in the West are important in this industry. New York is, of course, the most important market and has always enjoyed a certain amount of prestige as the originator of styles in this country and as the principal point of import of French models in women's wear and, to a less degree, of English models in men's wear. Domestic production and consumption. No figures, or even estimates, of domestic production in the silk wearing-apparel industry or any branch of the industry are available. Such data would be very difficult, if not impossible, to obtain, because, first, there are so many small shops and establishments which in the aggregate contribute a large quota to the total production, and, second, silk wearing apparel is made by the same concerns that manufacture garments from wool, cotton, or linen, so that a particular manufacturer would frequently be unable to tell how much of one and how much of another he produced. It may safely be surmised that each of the six branches referred to produces goods valued at several million dollars annually. Silk dresses are worn in all parts of the country, by all classes of women, and at all times of the year. The market for silk underwear is more limited, but the use seems to become more general each year. Much of this is of course supplied by the manufacturers of silk knit underwear, but the very cheap grades are made from light-weight habutai and crêpe de chine and can undersell the knit article. The very fine grades of underwear are also made from woven fabric. These are usually elaborately trimmed with lace or embroidery, hence would fall under the classification of paragraph 358. The consumption of silk shirts somewhat increased during the period of high wages, but year in and year out there is a definite and staple trade in this type of garment in certain localities. The extreme heat of the Southwest makes woolen clothing unbearable during a large part of the year. This has led to the custom of dispensing with a coat; consequently the silk shirt of rather good quality finds a continuous market in that part of the country. The fact that the United States is by far the largest producer of broad silks indicates that the silk wearing-apparel industry in this country, which would consume most of the broad silks, is much larger than in any foreign country. Domestic exports. Export statistics of silk wearing apparel were first recorded in 1918, in which year they amounted to $2,556,166; they were increased by over 100 per cent in 1919 to $5,600,035 and by almost 100 per cent in 1920, when they were $10,016,045. In 1921 exports equaled $7,261,798. The large number of countries 24 Census of Manufactures, 1914, vol. 11, p. 188. |