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Reddit mentions of The Dress of the People: Everyday Fashion in Eighteenth-Century England

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We found 2 Reddit mentions of The Dress of the People: Everyday Fashion in Eighteenth-Century England. Here are the top ones.

The Dress of the People: Everyday Fashion in Eighteenth-Century England
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Found 2 comments on The Dress of the People: Everyday Fashion in Eighteenth-Century England:

u/colevintage · 15 pointsr/AskHistorians

Previously tailors’ guilds constructed all fitted, outer garments. Unfitted items, like shirts or shifts, were not regulated under this. Seamstresses in Paris were considered a free trade, for example, and could legally make things not claimed by the Tailors. This became an area of contention with the popularization of the Mantua gown in the late 17th century. While it was an outer garment, it was not fitted and tailored. Instead, the fabric was draped over the body and pinned, pleated, and tucked to the body. Tailors work from measure and pattern, so this is a very different process, giving a major argument of these being separate trades.

The guild presented by the seamstresses was limited to only making clothing for women and children, and they could not hire male workers. While sewing was not gendered at that time, many of the other trades were male dominated and this was considered an acceptable female-based career path to create. The idea was that this would keep women from trying to push their way into the Tailoring trade instead. It was a valid concern because it did happen in quite a few places, like Caen. After the creation of the Seamstresses guild in France in 1675, numerous rules were placed upon the seamstresses within the Tailoring trade, most of which were ignored over time. For example, in 1694 French seamstresses could not hire assistants other than their own children, but by 1712 that was changed.

Some of the argument for the separate guild was that it was highly restricted and competing against a well-established trade, which was not. The Tailors still very much had the upper hand. Some still had a problem with this arrangement, such as the English Tailors’ guilds who did fight back against the formation of the Mantua Makers, petitioning Parliament in 1702, but rather unsuccessfully. It may have been in part due to the frequency which the Master tailors petitioned Parliament on other topics. Between 1702 and 1720 they brought up issue with Button-sellers, the wearing of cloth and stuff buttons (wools), and importing foreign buttons, just to note some. Other tailors tried to take advantage of the female market instead, bringing them in to work and charging guild fees, but refusing to include them in any of the actual guild administration. In Caen the women pushed back and were allowed to create their own guild administration.

Interestingly enough, the separation of the sexes which kept women from truly being involved in the Tailoring trade played a big role in keeping the Mantua Makers trade alive later. Mantua gowns were thought by some to be nothing more than a fad, but they instead developed into new gown styles using the same construction methods. Their business was therefore assured and as the 18th century continued on the public perception changed, viewing the making of these types of women’s and children’s garments to be a distinctly feminine trade. Note that tailors still constructed women’s stays, riding habits, and court gowns. These all still required the process of measure and pattern. By 1760 this viewpoint of female trades had progressed enough that keeping men out of female occupations was a popular debate topic (the London Courant has an article on the topic that year). The idea of a Man Milliner or Male Mantua-maker was humorous enough to be included as a character in plays and satire.

Basically, with female seamstresses trying to push their way into the established trade of the Tailors, the best solution (for most) was to give them a restricted, watered down version for their own guild. Some thought it wouldn’t last long, others saw it as the easiest way to control the group, or at the least the lesser of two evils. In reality the women had enough ingenuity and drive to not just make their businesses succeed, but began to change the entire public perception of sewing as a gendered occupation.

Sources:

Women in Business, 1700-1850 by Nicola Jane Phillips

The Return of the Guilds by Lucassen, De Moor, and Luiten van Zanden

Women and Business Since 1500 by Béatrice Craig

The Dress of the People by John Styles

Select Documents Illustrating the History of Trade Unionism by Frank Galton

u/Cryingbabylady · 3 pointsr/HistoricalCostuming

I have a book called The Dress of the People by John Styles that’s super informative. I got it through my local library.

https://www.amazon.com/Dress-People-Everyday-Fashion-Eighteenth-Century/dp/0300121199/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=the+dress+of+the+people&qid=1570843221&sprefix=the+dress+of+the+peop&sr=8-1

You may also check out Colonial Williamsburg’s website or The School of Historical Dress.

If you narrow your focus to a geographical area it will make things easier on you (France, The UK, the Colonies, etc.).

Also you can ask a librarian at your local library to help you (many libraries allow you to do this via email as well). Just make sure it’s an actual library and not a clerk. You can ask for the reference desk and say you need help with research for school if you’re not sure.