Before sewing machines were invented women spent much of their time maintaining their family's clothing. Middle-class housewives, even with the aid of a hired seamstress, would devote several days of each month to this task. It took an experienced seamstress at least 14 hours to make a dress shirt for a man; a woman's dress took 10 hours; and a pair of summer trousers took nearly three hours. Most people except the very well-off would have only two sets of clothing: a work outfit and a Sunday outfit.