The shirt was an item of underwear in the 18th century. It was part of a regime of cleanliness when outer clothing could not be laundered with soap and water. Shirts were purchased in the dozens if the owner could afford them, so that a clean one could be worn every day. They were usually made of linen, a washable and durable fabric. The construction of the shirt was very simple. It was made up of a series of squares and rectangles in a manner so that no scraps were left over after the pieces had been cut from a length of linen. The stitching on 18th-century shirts is extremely fine, so as to prevent seams from fraying during the harsh hand-laundering process. But apart from changes in the depth of cuffs and collars and width of sleeves, the style of the shirt alters little between the 16th century and the mid-19th.