The following two chapters will examine the informal trade in clothing, where clothing changed hands without the need for cash, usually outside the boundaries of shops and typically carried out by people not professionally connected to the clothing trade. This chapter will first examine how informal exchange of clothing could be part of the economy of makeshifts, before turning to look briefly at the illicit trade in clothing. The main section will investigate Poor Law provision in various urban and rural localities, concluding with a discussion on workhouse clothing. Clothing charities will be considered in Chapter 5.

Informal Exchange and the ‘Economy of Makeshifts’

While they acknowledge that informal exchange of non-perishable goods was probably an important part of consumer life, historians have found little surviving evidence of such transactions. For example, gifting has left little evidence, particularly in Herefordshire and Worcestershire. Set within the economic climate of the early nineteenth century, where the limited supply of coin did not accommodate the expanding numbers of people dependent on wages, other methods of commodity exchange were perhaps necessarily sought.

The acquisition of clothing by the poor has been analysed as part of the ‘makeshift’ economy. For Steven King and Alannah Tomkins, the ‘makeshift’ economy encompasses self-provisioning to help make ends meet, for example, using income in cash or kind from the parish, local charities, friendly societies, kinship and neighbourly support, along with pawning.