Аннотация:This paper explores the distribution and consumption of used clothing between about 1660 and 1830, focusing specifically on urban areas in northern England. These regions were distant enough from London to flourish independently of the dominance of the large Metropolitan second-hand market. By investigating disparate sources such as criminal records, town directories, local newspapers, inventories, letters and diaries, it becomes apparent that dealers in second-hand garments traded in a far more extensive and sophisticated manner than has generally been acknowledged. Wearing apparel was both expensive and sought-after, and its commercial recycling was established in many northern English towns from the seventeenth century. During the period of the long eighteenth century, this trade in second-hand clothing was increasingly regulated and standardised, resulting in a decided gender shift away from informal female dealers towards shop-based male pawnbrokers and clothes brokers.
