In Germany, tailors made women's clothes

For a long time, tailors made outer clothes for both men and women, while female seamstresses and home sewers made linen undergarments. Then in late 17th century France and Britain, female couturières and mantua makers got the right to sew mantuas and other women's clothes. The tailors continued to make stays, stiff-bodied court gowns, and riding habits for women, in addition to menswear.

Similar changes took place in Germany and Sweden too, but the tailors there hung on much longer to the privilege to make women's clothes, so the transition from tailors to dressmakers was delayed for a century or more. In the meantime, tailors in the German tradition continued to develop cutting methods for women's clothes as well as men's; J.S. Bernhardt's two-volume book from 1810‒1811 is the earliest and the most well-known printed example. Sewing techniques also differ between extant garments, depending on if they've been made in a tailor's or dressmaker's tradition. 

Book review: The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmaking

"The American Duchess Guide to18th Century
Dressmaking", by Lauren Stowell and Abby Cox

Yay—I got "The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmaking" for Christmas. :) It provides a wealth of information on how to hand sew British-influenced fashion. As I'm living in a different cultural sphere, I wanted to see to what extent this book's patterns are applicable in countries that were mainly influenced by French fashion.

I'm especially interested in how women's clothes were cut in the 18th century, and as I haven't seen any reviews that have focused on that aspect, I'm also going to share my thoughts on how the book's patterns compare to patterns from extant gowns.

Fabric samples book review

Quite some time ago, I mentioned a new book of mid-18th century fabric samples, intending to write a review of it. And now I've finally completed it.

This book is written in Swedish only; there is no parallel text in English like in "18th Century Textiles". This makes sense, as the samples are all from Swedish factories. Still, it includes a lot of samples from fabric types that may not be published elsewhere. E.g., many of the fabric names below are mentioned in "Textiles in America 1650–1870"—but without pictures.

Mid-18th century fabric samples

A new book showcasing a whole 1500 Swedish fabric samples from the mid-18th century has just been published. This is not a proper review, because I haven't seen the book in person yet (Christmas is over a month away!), so the only information I have is the publisher's presentation. But I'm so excited about it that I wanted to get the word out there straight away.