Basically only the sewing is done by hand now, and that's done with the aid of machines. That alone saves mountains of labor. Cotton has some problems with wate

Basically only the sewing is done by hand now, and that's done with the aid of machines. That alone saves mountains of labor. Cotton has some problems with water and pesticide use, but it's insanely productive today even compared to 50 years ago. Even if you priced in every externality it would probably still be cheaper to buy a shirt today than it would have been 50 years ago.