With the first settlers in the New World came styles of clothing from the Old World that eventually mixed with new styles, as trade routes and shipping made cloth and other materials hard to come by and expensive. As the colonists settled along the eastern seaboard, clothing remained an important part of social identity and coping with new surroundings. In Colonial America, readers will learn how men and women dressed, from the earliest settlers to those who fought in the Revolutionary War, from the rich landowners to the poorest servants.