One of the most important and widespread uses of the feedsack cloth was the making of garments for men, women and children, although the vast majority of surviving garments seem to have been made for women and girls.

Many of the earlier garments took the form of underwear, as the presence of a printed ink sack label would not be seen or commented upon (one hoped).

But by the late 1920’s, more people were openly wearing flour sack garments and there are numerous images of desperately poor families living in sack tents and wearing sack garments.

The situation grow worse during the Depression in the 1930’s and the more ingenious started to make and wear a wide range of garments that cost virtually nothing. The garments included aprons, blouses, dresses, skirts and sun bonnets for women and girls, as well as shirts and trousers for men and boys.

Glamour photograph of a model wearing a feedsack and long, black gloves, USA 1957 (TRC 2017.3303). For more information, click on the illustration.In some cases, sisters were clearly recognisable in the local schools, as they often wore dresses made from the same batch of sacks. In the late 1950's there were various national campaigns to promote the making and wearing of fashionable garments made out of feedsacks. These campaigns included professional models wearing feedsacks with fashionable accessories, such as long, black gloves. The wearing of these garments, whether practical or fashionable, or indeed both, continued into the 1960’s.