Dressmaker or Seamstress?
Fashion sewing (as it is called today) has moved on leaps and bounds with regard to publicity and the shear numbers taking part in this creative media.
A great part of this modernisation has to be accredited to the inception of the Internet.
But it wasn’t always this way!
Home sewing in past lives did not get much press exposure. It was never seen as a glamorous craft. In fact, quite the opposite.
Home sewing was forced upon some during sparse times and was ‘the thing to do‘ not out of want, but more necessity. Sewing allowed a family to ‘get by‘ and put clothes on their children’s backs.
Making clothes at home has a long history but, because it was seen as demeaning, it does not get the recognition it rightly deserves.
Fashion sewing (dressmaking) really came into its own in 1929, at the time of the Great Depression. More and more women wanted to create beautiful clothing as an escape, as money was very tight yet they wanted to dress like and look like celebrities of the time.
The economic depression began to affect consumers. Faced with a decrease in spending power, people, more than ever before, were now turning to sewing patterns as a means of fashion.
It is easy to forget that just over a generation ago, young girls from both middle and working class backgrounds were routinely taught to sew as a practical necessity.
However, not only have the skills involved in home dressmaking been overlooked and marginalized due to their association with women and the home, but the impact home dressmaking had on women’s lives and broader socioeconomic structures also has been largely ignored.
There is not much written regarding the history of the home dressmaker and her approach to making clothes. You can however listen to 4 women of a bygone generation, talk about their experiences.
Sit back, relax and take some time to listen to our history -
Audio’s from Evelyn Cozens, Nesta Tovey, Jo Peterson and Elsie Della-Gana.
Today, with the advent of the Internet, which spotlights and chronicles a fashion sewers life and projects, it is assured (and about time too) that our beloved craft will live on.
We are able to share our skills and create wide reaching sewing communities worldwide.
Home sewing has been heavily over looked in the past, when, in reality, it has acted as a catapult to thrust many famous fashion designers into the successful careers that they have today.
Nobody can deny that the dressmaking seed was planted in the heads of many of these designers, who’s first experience of creativity came from a mother, grandmother, aunt or other such skilled family member.
We have come so far in such little time!
It makes you wonder where fashion sewing will be in 20 – 30 years time!
I would love to hear your thoughts on this post.
Please feel free to contact me either via my blogs Contact Us page or comments box below this post.
You can also ask me a question on Twitter and Facebook with regard to this or any other fashion sewing related matter.
Happy fashion sewing
Colleen G Lea
