Avery Trufelman is the director/host of the podcast Kids’ Clothes. In this episode, she discusses how punch cards, an invention used frequently in early computers, had their origins in clothing. She then discusses children’s clothing in depth: its origins and evolution and why it looks the way it does today.

Roman Mars, in speaking to Avery, states “… around and around. The loom inspires the computer, the computer changes the way we buy, order, and think about clothes. Clothing and culture impact each other (“Kids’ Clothes 00:06:45-00:06:56).” The episode makes this claim by visiting the evolution of children’s fashion over time; first with the introduction of children’s clothing in the 18th century and then to safety guidelines for clothing in the 21st century. What intrigues me, and what the episode somewhat glosses over, is the rate at which this cycle occurs.

The inventions or influences the episode mentions during the early period of children’s clothing seem to span over several decades. This stands in contrast to the later part of the episode, where they talk about how children’s clothing is updated constantly in response to incidences, trends, and so on. I assert that, as time has passed, this cycle has sped up. My first reaction was to attribute this cycle to the exponential growth of technology. 

This seems to be the case early on when the demand for fancy clothing led to the invention of the Jacquard loom. But for changes made today, Avery says this: “Every time an item is recalled, or a clothing company gets sued for endangering a child, the guidelines get revised or tightened (Kids’ Clothes 00:18:02-00:18:07)” So safety and litigation, not the advancement of technology, seems to be the driving cause in this case.

So my question is, what is it that has led to the acceleration of this cycle? Is technology not necessarily the cause, but perhaps what enables this change to happen?

Works Cited

Trufelman, Avery. “Kids’ Clothes: Articles of Interest #1.” 99% Invisible, 99% Invisible, 25 Sept. 2018, https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/kids-clothes-articles-of-interest-1/.