CLOTHIERS, WHOLESALE. The term Wholesale Clothiers is applied to the makers and distributors of "ready-to wear" or "machine-made" woollen and other types of outer cloth ing for men and women, comprising suits and overcoats for men, costumes, dresses, skirts, and coats for women. The industry now forms the more important of the two divisions—wholesale and made-to-order—of the tailoring, or clothing trades.
The name "clothier" signified in the days of handloom weaving, the master cloth-maker or producer, but with the advent of the power-loom that designation gradually became changed to "manu facturer," prefixed generally with a qualifying name indicative of the class of fabric made, such as "cloth," woollen," or "worsted." Some makers, however, prefer to style themselves manufacturing clothiers. In America, the cloth dresser (finisher), or fuller was formerly termed a clothier.