SIC 2331 Women's, Misses', and Juniors' Blouses and Shirts

SIC 2331

This category includes establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing women's, misses', and juniors' blouses and shirts from purchased woven or knit fabrics. Knitting mills primarily engaged in manufacturing outerwear are classified in SIC 2253: Knit Outerwear Mills. Establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing girls', children's, and infants' blouses and shirts are classified in SIC 2361: Girls', Children's, and Infants' Dresses, Blouses, and Shirts.

NAICS CODE(S)

315212

Women's and Girls' Cut and Sew Apparel Contractors

315232

Women's and Girls' Cut and Sew Blouse and Shirt Manufacturing

INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT

According to the U.S. Census Department, in 2002, U.S. companies shipped $2.6 billion worth of women's and girls' cut and sew goods. Just five years prior, that figure was significantly higher, at almost $4 billion in 1997. The number of companies operating in the business also declined significantly, with only 411 companies involved in the manufacturing of women's and misses' blouses and shirts in 2002. Much of the drop can be attributed to anemic product demand and the increased market share of international competitors. For example, in 2002 the total value of shipments of women's and misses' blouses and shirts from U.S. companies was $471.5 million, down from $511.2 million in 1997.

ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE

Because many establishments within the apparel industry group (including manufacturers of women's and misses' blouses and shirts) do not always make the entire garment within the establishment's premises or across the company's factories, the U.S. Census of Manufacturers separates the industry into three broad producer classifications. Just where a company or establishment falls within the classifications depends on the degree of comprehensiveness of its production activities. Producers are classified as manufacturers if they buy fabric and undertake the design, patternmaking, grading, cutting, sewing, and assembling of their garments from within their own establishment or firm. Because of their integrated structure, wholly owned manufacturers operate in a manner that allows them to exercise a considerable measure of control over the production quality of their garments. Since they require relatively large investment expenditures, such operations fall outside the financial reach of the majority of the establishments active in the industry.

A firm or establishment that carries out all garment making processes minus its sewing and (sometimes) its cutting operations, deciding instead to contract out these operations to independently owned outside firms, is defined as an apparel jobber. Many apparel firms, independent of their size, contract out their sewing and cutting needs, along with other highly skilled production functions such as embroidery, quilting, and pleating, which are performed using specialized machinery.

A firm or establishment that is independently owned and uses its own machinery and employees to sew and cut garments from the designs, materials, and specifications supplied by the apparel jobbers is classified as a contractor. The contracting system makes it possible to accommodate seasonal production peaks.

In 2002, when ranked by the number of establishments per state, the largest number of establishments engaged in this industry by far was in California, followed by New York, with Pennsylvania, Texas, and Florida at a distant third, fourth, and fifth place.

BACKGROUND AND DEVELOPMENT

Up until the mid-nineteenth century, women's and misses' ready-made or ready-to-wear blouses and shirts were practically nonexistent. Dating back to early colonial times, U.S. women typically wore clothes that were made in the household. Popular women's magazines carried sewing instructions for making new patterns or styles. From the 1860s until the turn of the century, efforts to manufacture women's ready-wear garments met with little success. What was available was usually of inferior quality and questionable design, despite the invention and diffusion of sewing machine technology. For the most part, domestically produced garments continued to dominate the scene; mass produced ready-wear women's clothes were spoken about in derogatory terms.

Things changed slowly during the first two decades of the twentieth century, as women's ready-to-wear clothes encountered wider social acceptance. The combined influence of several concurrent social and economic forces explained this shift. For instance, ongoing improvements in European and U.S. textile technologies transformed the quality and availability of fabrics, enabling manufacturers to produce a more comfortable and style-conscious fit. Continuous upgrades in sewing...

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