How did the opening up of opportunities in leisure and employment evolve women’s tailoring?

Abstract

Women’s tailoring is now a massive part of mainstream fashion, this study will look at the origins and evolution of this style. Equestrianism is the first time we see Tailoring used popularly in womenswear, it crept into different types of sportwear and to eventually completely revolutionize womenswear. During the Victorian era women began to fight for their rights and win in earnest, this led to women having more bodily autonomy and we see a rise in more practical clothing and the promoting of rational dress and Bloomerism. Women also began to work in establishments more due to their newfound rights, the industrial revolution also saw a boom in new employment opportunities. The invention of the sewing machine around 1850 also let women producing their own clothes at home and at a much faster rate. Tailors at first would only make women’s riding habits, then other sportwear, then coats but eventually opened up their shops to women. Dress makers not to have their trade decrease learned tailoring skills and even copied the tailor’s flat patterns but would adapt them on a dress form to more suit the feminine silhouette. The dress makers made a more froufrou version of the austere men’s styles of the time and they created some spectacular garments. All of the subjects covered in this study will show the evolution of Women’s Tailoring from its origins in Sportswear until it trickled up to be the most fashionable outfit of a high society ladies’ wardrobe later in the Victorian era .