It is also at this time when the concept of fashion, as we know it today, begins. Prior to this point, clothes as a means of self-expression were limited. Guild controlled systems of production and distribution, and the sumptuary laws made clothing both hard to come by and expensive for the common people. However, by 1750 the consumer revolution brought about cheaper copies of fashionable styles, allowing members of all classes to partake in fashionable dress. With this, fashion begins to represent an expression of individuality.[2][3] The constant change in dress mirrored political and social ideals of the time.