The Story Behind The Suits: A Brief History Of Brooks Brothers Before Bankruptcy

While outfitting presidents and the upper crust may get the thrills, government contracts help pay the bills. United States Army Generals Ulysses S. Grant, William Tecumseh Sherman, Philip Sheridan, and Joseph Hooker were indeed all outfitted in the finest custom-made uniforms by Brooks Brothers, but the rank-and-file who wore Brooks Brothers were not so lucky. 

At the outset of the Civil War, New York State issued a 24-hour request for bidders to provide 12,000 Union-blue complete-set military uniforms. Brooks Brothers said that they could deliver 2,000 uniforms per week and won the bid. However, there were not enough bolts of fabric on the market in all of Manhattan to accomplish that goal to normal standards of quality. 

The brand scrounged the entire region and used everything to make uniforms, cloths of every texture, variety and quality, known as “shoddy” fabric, and glued them together, missing buttonholes and leaving seams unsewn. Other states’ regiments ridiculed New York’s as their uniforms fell apart in the rain. To add insult to injury, soldiers were forced to pay for their own uniforms out of their allowances. The New York State legislature called Elisha Brooks to testify and forced him to replace 2,300 uniforms at great cost. 

Because of this government contract and others the word “shoddy” came to mean poor workmanship, but the Brooks Brothers were far from the only war profiteers in New York City. There were only a few dozen Ultra High Net Worth Individuals ($30M+ in assets or $1m in 1860 dollars) at the beginning of the war but hundreds by the end, thus called the "shoddy aristocracy."

[Photo via Library of Congress]