Maids were responsible for making their own clothes, which usually consisted of two dresses, one for cleaning in the first part of the day and the other for the later part of the day. The cost of buying fabric for the dresses could be difficult to manage for the women who had just gotten the new job and didn't have savings. Footmen had to be the most well-turned-out of any of the servants, with their uniforms – complete with buttons that had the family crest – made at the cost of the family. When the butler Carson snaps at footman William – whose seam is coming undone – "never again appear in public in a similar state of undress," it's because Carson is responsible for the appearance of the footmen.
