"She is so neat and fits so well": garment construction and the millinery business of Eliza Oliver Dodds, 1821-1822
Date
1993
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Although most women sewed during the nineteenth century, few possessed the mantua-maker’s ability to cut and fit fashionable garments. By weaving contemporary documents and objects together, this thesis examines how women created their clothing during the early nineteenth century and what additional tasks and duties a professional needlewoman performed. The account book of Eliza Oliver Dodds, a mantua-maker and milliner in Washington, DC, provides rare evidence of her staff, goods, and sewing services between 1821 and 1833. Domestic guides and letters help clarify the distinction between amateur and professional sewing skills while revealing the attitudes of a mantua-maker's clients. Analysis of a dress made during the 1820s offers more specific information about construction techniques. ☐ As the growing textile industry produced cheap, decorated fabric, the increasingly complex construction of women's clothing in the 1820s maintained social distinctions. Working- and middle-class women did not have the skills to properly make fashionable garments. While craft training conferred status on the mantua-maker, sewing was not highly valued and Dodds turned to selling goods and renting property. She also developed a vital network of needlewomen and merchants to maintain her business. The combined evidence of the dress and documents reveal how manipulating fabric into ornate garments marked the owner's status while providing a livelihood for the professional needlewoman.
Description
"Copyrighted materials in this document have not been filmed at the request of the author. They are available for consultation, however, in the author's university library. [Pages] 36-48 "--unnumbered page inserted by UMI after page 35.