Show TIME l DOESN'T ALTER BILL FOR CLOTHING The total value of wearing apparel bought In the American market has remained almost stationary from 1919 to 1930 while every other item has tended to increase says a n survey o ot of the American consumer market conducted conducted con con- ducted by The Business Week Food consumption showed a steady growth from 1921 to 1929 but clothIng clothing cloth Ing expenditures reveal a distinct downward trend since 1923 The average e family spent no more for clothing in 1929 than in 1921 and md less for what it wore than for fox transportation Ever since 1923 transportation trans expenditure has run ahead of clothing expenditure and since 1927 personal expenditures and savings also ilso have outstripped tho those e for wearIng wear wear- In Inc Ing apparel h clothing was vau the third largest item in the national consumer budget in 1919 b by 1929 1020 it ii had lad fallen to sixth place Although in one sense it may be said that less clothing is being worn at least by women the only inferences infer inter to be drawn from these facts are ire that the average price per article of wearing apparel has been declining through lower production costs or that the actual cost of distribution has increased more than is commonly supposed so that the allowance made for or retail and wholesale margins in later ater years ears in this study is too low The decline since 1923 probably reflects re re- re- re fleets in part the tendency for unit unil price to diminish and in part an actual decrease in m consumption of certain types of wearing apparel due to changes in customs and habit It is well veil known that the automobile has influenced the consumption of shoes and ind the trend toward closed cars has affected demand for other kinds of clothing as well Women are arc clearly and to an increasing in creasing extent the clothing consumers ers in this country The marked decline in expenditures for or mens men's suits and coats is striking The style factor reflects itself as well as the fact that the wearing qualities of mens men's clothing have improved in recent years |