WEBVTT - Paper Sewing Patterns, Part 1 0:00:01.320 --> 0:00:04.240 Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:13.920 of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 0:00:13.960 --> 0:00:17.320 Frye and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. Oh, this one's for 0:00:17.480 --> 0:00:21.239 my stitching folks. If you're not into stitching, you might 0:00:21.280 --> 0:00:23.960 still find this interesting. I hope you do. The first 0:00:24.000 --> 0:00:26.319 week of June this year, there was a report that 0:00:26.400 --> 0:00:31.520 circulated that the company IG Design Group had sold its 0:00:31.720 --> 0:00:35.600 Design Group America division that's usually abbreviated as DGA in 0:00:35.680 --> 0:00:39.559 any headlines or legal filings that you might see. That 0:00:39.560 --> 0:00:43.320 they were selling DGA off of the international business. And 0:00:43.640 --> 0:00:48.400 DGA is the company that is the umbrella company for 0:00:48.479 --> 0:00:51.640 the sewing pattern companies that are known among stitchers as 0:00:51.720 --> 0:00:56.320 the Big four or the Core four. So that's Simplicity Patterns, McCall's, Butterick, 0:00:56.400 --> 0:01:01.279 and Vogue. DGA does also contain other proper lines and brands. 0:01:01.360 --> 0:01:05.240 But this was grave news because DJA was sold to 0:01:05.319 --> 0:01:10.720 a liquidation firm called Hilco Capital for a dollar plus 0:01:11.040 --> 0:01:14.800 per the agreement seventy five percent of proceeds that Hilco 0:01:14.880 --> 0:01:18.959 collects from the sales of the assets. Hilco is the 0:01:19.000 --> 0:01:23.000 same company that purchased Joanne Fabrics and then liquidated it 0:01:23.080 --> 0:01:27.160 earlier this year, as reported by the Craft Industry Alliance 0:01:27.280 --> 0:01:31.080 quote IG Design Group cited the impact of tariffs imposed 0:01:31.080 --> 0:01:34.040 by the US as a factor. Over fifty percent of 0:01:34.160 --> 0:01:38.400 dga's products are manufactured in China, although the sewing patterns 0:01:38.440 --> 0:01:41.760 are made in the US. The company also mentioned a 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:44.840 softening market over the last several years, as well as 0:01:44.840 --> 0:01:48.720 the bankruptcy of Joanne as factors in the sale. You 0:01:48.720 --> 0:01:50.840 can get into a whole discussion about that of like, 0:01:50.880 --> 0:01:55.000 it's so sad that Joeanne going bankrupt and liquidating is 0:01:55.080 --> 0:01:58.559 killing our sales. Let's hand everything over to the same company. Listen, 0:01:58.640 --> 0:02:01.920 that's a whole discussion that's you're having. But there have 0:02:02.080 --> 0:02:05.520 been some social media posts by DJA brands that are 0:02:05.560 --> 0:02:08.440 indicating like, no, no, it's still business as usual. We're 0:02:08.480 --> 0:02:11.280 still working on the next batch of patterns. But it 0:02:11.320 --> 0:02:13.919 really definitely does seem like a little bit of death 0:02:13.960 --> 0:02:16.600 knell too many people that are in the sewing and 0:02:16.639 --> 0:02:20.640 crafting hobby and professional space. And when I started this outline, 0:02:20.680 --> 0:02:22.760 there actually had not been an update on what was 0:02:22.840 --> 0:02:25.480 going to happen next, and when hey, there has been 0:02:25.520 --> 0:02:28.200 since we'll talk about it at the end, but most 0:02:28.240 --> 0:02:30.880 of the folks who sow are expecting the pattern companies 0:02:30.919 --> 0:02:33.560 to vanish, And this of course got me thinking about 0:02:33.639 --> 0:02:35.440 how we got here in the first place. Right when 0:02:35.480 --> 0:02:38.919 I was growing up and into my early adulthood, those 0:02:38.960 --> 0:02:42.880 Big four sewing companies pattern companies were competitors for the 0:02:42.880 --> 0:02:46.400 most part, but they eventually all somehow ended up in 0:02:46.520 --> 0:02:50.040 one big company, which is just weird. But well before 0:02:50.080 --> 0:02:54.040 they existed, there were already people trying to share sewing patterns. 0:02:54.080 --> 0:02:56.720 So I thought we could talk about how this all evolved. 0:02:57.360 --> 0:02:59.120 And because it is near and dear to my heart 0:02:59.440 --> 0:03:01.760 and I can't st typing when it's about things like this, 0:03:02.000 --> 0:03:05.600 it turned into a two parter. So Part one is 0:03:05.639 --> 0:03:09.400 going to cover ways that books and periodicals that shared 0:03:09.440 --> 0:03:13.040 sewing patterns or templates to create them started out and 0:03:13.080 --> 0:03:15.720 then became very popular in Europe and the US over 0:03:15.760 --> 0:03:18.240 the course of a couple hundred years, and then part 0:03:18.280 --> 0:03:20.560 two will dig into the origins of the Big four 0:03:20.639 --> 0:03:24.240 and where we got here. So my mention of Europe 0:03:24.240 --> 0:03:26.400 and the US is the clue that this is going 0:03:26.440 --> 0:03:31.200 to be pretty Western eccentric. The approaches to how you 0:03:31.240 --> 0:03:33.880 do showing in other areas of the world are actually 0:03:33.880 --> 0:03:38.360 in some ways very different or have been historically, But 0:03:39.560 --> 0:03:42.480 the US and European sewing markets are really what we're 0:03:42.520 --> 0:03:44.360 talking about. And then at the end of part two 0:03:44.400 --> 0:03:47.600 we will have some information about news that broke near 0:03:47.640 --> 0:03:50.000 the end of my research process. There will probably be 0:03:50.040 --> 0:03:52.280 more between when we record this and when it comes 0:03:52.320 --> 0:03:56.920 out we'll see. So people have of course been putting 0:03:56.920 --> 0:04:01.880 together garments since before recorded history, and then over time 0:04:01.960 --> 0:04:05.360 those garments have generally become a lot more complex. They 0:04:05.400 --> 0:04:11.160 started requiring more knowledge of geometry and how to basically 0:04:11.200 --> 0:04:15.400 assemble something inside out and then when it's turned right 0:04:15.480 --> 0:04:18.840 side out it fits on the body. Not every garment 0:04:18.880 --> 0:04:21.960 works that way, obviously, but a lot of garments in 0:04:22.000 --> 0:04:24.760 the clothing traditions that Holly and I grew up in 0:04:24.839 --> 0:04:28.480 do yeah, listen, great kill people, I hear you out there. 0:04:29.120 --> 0:04:31.599 Don't worry about it. It's not about that. Yeah, yeah, 0:04:31.640 --> 0:04:33.800 it's not what we're talking about right now. But anyway, 0:04:33.800 --> 0:04:39.520 these like this geometric focus and this inside outing and 0:04:39.680 --> 0:04:43.400 right side outing of the garments eventually led to the 0:04:43.480 --> 0:04:47.800 drafting of patterns and the first known publication of such 0:04:47.839 --> 0:04:51.559 Patterns was in fifteen eighty. This was in book form 0:04:51.640 --> 0:04:54.159 and it was written by a Spanish man named Wanda 0:04:54.200 --> 0:04:57.920 as Sega, and that book was titled Libro de Geometria 0:04:58.040 --> 0:05:01.560 Practica israsa. This this is translated in different ways, but 0:05:01.600 --> 0:05:05.200 the most direct translation seems to be Book on Geometry 0:05:05.279 --> 0:05:09.640 Practice and pattern RASA, for example, is tracing. It's basically 0:05:09.640 --> 0:05:13.560 like making out patterns. Later editions of this book, because 0:05:13.600 --> 0:05:17.599 it did go through multiples, feature an illustration of Wanda 0:05:17.680 --> 0:05:20.279 of Sega on the title page and he's using what 0:05:20.360 --> 0:05:22.320 looks like a compass, and he has a ruler in 0:05:22.320 --> 0:05:25.720 scissors nearby on his work table. And you would need 0:05:25.760 --> 0:05:29.120 those tools to use this book because there were illustrations 0:05:29.160 --> 0:05:32.240 in it that needed to be hand drafted into human 0:05:32.360 --> 0:05:37.400 size pieces. Today, that's not the most common way to 0:05:37.520 --> 0:05:41.360 acquire a pattern, but it's also not unusual. There are 0:05:41.360 --> 0:05:45.520 still books on sewing that work this way. Sometimes they 0:05:45.560 --> 0:05:48.160 have a grid in them and you size them up 0:05:48.320 --> 0:05:52.520 using that grid as a reference for line placement. I 0:05:52.520 --> 0:05:55.960 remember my mom having a couple of special rulers and 0:05:56.720 --> 0:06:00.799 tools for doing this kind of thing. That's common today 0:06:00.960 --> 0:06:03.760 is the method used in Alsega's book and that's where 0:06:03.800 --> 0:06:07.559 the measures are listed on the diagrams and the home 0:06:07.640 --> 0:06:11.159 pattern drafter just tries to enlarge the pattern based only 0:06:11.200 --> 0:06:16.000 on those numbers. But not all of Alcega's illustrations have measurements. 0:06:16.480 --> 0:06:18.400 In some of them, you get a shape and then 0:06:18.440 --> 0:06:20.360 you just you have to sort of work it out 0:06:20.520 --> 0:06:25.560 into a full sized item based on vibes. One to Alcega, 0:06:25.600 --> 0:06:28.359 who was born in the Bosque region of Spain, became 0:06:28.400 --> 0:06:31.599 a tailor by trade, and when he completed his book, 0:06:31.720 --> 0:06:35.719 two other important tailors endorsed it as a valuable work. 0:06:36.160 --> 0:06:38.600 Those are Juan Lopez de Borgette, who was the tailor 0:06:38.640 --> 0:06:41.960 of the Duke of Alba, and ernand Gutierrez, the Princess 0:06:41.960 --> 0:06:45.719 of Portugal's personal tailor, and it was through their support 0:06:45.760 --> 0:06:48.039 that al Sga received a license from the King of 0:06:48.040 --> 0:06:51.520 Spain to print book on Geometry Practice and Pattern for 0:06:51.600 --> 0:06:56.480 public sale. The book's first section does not feature patterns. 0:06:56.520 --> 0:06:59.920 It's all about the techniques that are needed for enlarging them, 0:07:00.560 --> 0:07:04.240 and it also includes information about al Sega's effort to 0:07:04.360 --> 0:07:08.080 write the book. It sounds really arduous. He mentions just 0:07:08.240 --> 0:07:11.920 wanting to quit several times, but this book really set 0:07:11.960 --> 0:07:16.040 the standard for sewing books that include patterns. According to 0:07:16.080 --> 0:07:19.280 a summary by the Library of Congress quote, the quality 0:07:19.320 --> 0:07:23.320 of the designs is noteworthy and contrasts with the neglect 0:07:23.440 --> 0:07:28.360 scene in the writing of the accompanying explanatory texts. That's 0:07:28.360 --> 0:07:31.280 something that's persisted over the centuries. A lot of times 0:07:31.480 --> 0:07:34.840 stitchers have found the explanatory text in these kinds of 0:07:34.880 --> 0:07:38.960 books a lot more confusing than helpful. Al Sega gives 0:07:39.000 --> 0:07:42.000 information on the amounts of fabric that you'll need for 0:07:42.080 --> 0:07:44.960 various patterns, just as you would find on the back 0:07:45.000 --> 0:07:48.520 of a pattern envelope today, although the measure was different. 0:07:49.080 --> 0:07:53.440 There's nothing about yards or meters in this book. At 0:07:53.440 --> 0:07:56.560 the time, Alsega and a lot of other tailors were 0:07:56.680 --> 0:08:00.520 using a measurement called an L. The exact length of 0:08:00.560 --> 0:08:04.120 an L has varied in different places in different cultures, 0:08:04.600 --> 0:08:08.080 so you can find l's that correspond to anywhere from 0:08:08.120 --> 0:08:11.760 twenty seven to forty five inches. The L was its 0:08:11.760 --> 0:08:14.840 own system, and tailors of Alsega's time would have an 0:08:15.000 --> 0:08:18.960 L wand, which is a length of L and that 0:08:19.080 --> 0:08:21.840 had marks on it to break down the various fractional 0:08:21.960 --> 0:08:23.960 lengths of the L, like a half and a quarter 0:08:24.040 --> 0:08:26.720 and things like that. This all just sounds so easy 0:08:26.760 --> 0:08:32.040 and straightforward and interchangeable with everyone's different patterns. I can't 0:08:32.080 --> 0:08:34.800 even imagine. It's like if you we have a hard 0:08:34.920 --> 0:08:40.640 enough time converting yards to meters in you know, modern 0:08:40.760 --> 0:08:44.120 day stitching, but can you imagine if everybody were calling 0:08:44.160 --> 0:08:46.800 it a yard but it was all different? Like, wait, 0:08:46.840 --> 0:08:50.599 whose yard? What are you talking about? No, it's a 0:08:50.640 --> 0:08:53.120 half yard, that's all you'll need. Yeah, but what yard? 0:08:53.559 --> 0:08:57.920 I would lose my mind. In addition to this text, 0:08:58.240 --> 0:09:01.960 which is not as six naorious one might desire, al 0:09:02.040 --> 0:09:05.560 Sega's book also has so many patterns. It has one 0:09:05.640 --> 0:09:08.120 hundred and thirty five in all, and they actually cover 0:09:08.200 --> 0:09:12.120 a wide range of clothing categories. There are garment patterns 0:09:12.120 --> 0:09:15.720 for both women and men, like capes and trousers and dresses, 0:09:16.120 --> 0:09:19.120 but there are also items that fall into very specific 0:09:19.440 --> 0:09:22.560 use groupings. For example, there is a section on garments 0:09:22.800 --> 0:09:25.960 that the clergy would need. There are clothes for jousting 0:09:26.120 --> 0:09:30.840 and even things like Turkish clothing for lifting. There's rope 0:09:30.920 --> 0:09:34.560 de la trado d'panno that's lawyer's clothing, and there's even 0:09:34.559 --> 0:09:38.400 a bathrobe set. It is a very comprehensive set of 0:09:38.480 --> 0:09:41.400 blocks for any stitcher who may need to clothe all 0:09:41.520 --> 0:09:46.520 kinds of people. So having been calling these diagrams patterns 0:09:46.520 --> 0:09:48.320 all this time that Tracy and I have been talking 0:09:48.440 --> 0:09:51.440 is actually a little bit incorrect, because they are what's 0:09:51.480 --> 0:09:54.000 called a block. A block is a set of basic 0:09:54.080 --> 0:09:57.360 pieces that are not exactly patterns. They look very much 0:09:57.440 --> 0:10:00.440 like a pattern, but they're really more like te blitz 0:10:00.480 --> 0:10:04.280 that patterns can be drafted from. They don't have seam allowance. 0:10:04.600 --> 0:10:07.240 They kind of represent the exact shape of the body, 0:10:07.320 --> 0:10:09.880 so if you were to tape them together edge to edge, 0:10:10.280 --> 0:10:13.720 it would theoretically look like the shell of a person. Blocks, 0:10:13.760 --> 0:10:16.840 by the way, are also called slopers. Those words get 0:10:16.920 --> 0:10:20.400 used pretty interchangeably, and these are still used by pattern 0:10:20.440 --> 0:10:23.640 makers today to make patterns for all sorts of garments. 0:10:23.720 --> 0:10:26.960 So in skilled hands, a good set of blocks becomes 0:10:26.960 --> 0:10:31.000 the foundation for an entire library of potentially very different 0:10:31.000 --> 0:10:34.880 looking pattern designs. We'll talk about some of those pattern 0:10:34.960 --> 0:10:47.440 layouts after we pause or a sponsor break. Some of 0:10:47.480 --> 0:10:51.120 the blocks in al Saga's book are fairly simple. For example, 0:10:51.559 --> 0:10:55.680 there is one pattern block for some of the capa 0:10:55.800 --> 0:10:58.920 Solas d' Pagno. Those are cloth capes in the book, 0:10:59.080 --> 0:11:02.319 and those just have three pieces with instructions for cutting 0:11:02.360 --> 0:11:04.160 some of the pieces on the fold. It looks very 0:11:04.160 --> 0:11:06.400 similar to the way you'd see a pattern in a 0:11:06.440 --> 0:11:09.440 modern pattern instance, although again you would have to add 0:11:09.440 --> 0:11:13.600 seam allowance, but others have many pieces for creating much 0:11:13.640 --> 0:11:17.080 more tailored garments. And of note too, is that these 0:11:17.120 --> 0:11:20.200 are not graded for multiple sizes. Right. If you've ever 0:11:20.280 --> 0:11:24.040 bought a commercial pattern today, you'll see multiple cutting lines 0:11:24.080 --> 0:11:28.560 for different sizes. But these are really what are considered 0:11:28.800 --> 0:11:33.640 base size blocks, intended to represent the average sized person, 0:11:34.240 --> 0:11:36.960 whatever that means. It would be up to the person 0:11:37.080 --> 0:11:40.880 using the book to then make any necessary alterations to 0:11:41.000 --> 0:11:44.520 those blocks and the resulting patterns to suit the size 0:11:44.520 --> 0:11:46.720 and shape of the person that a garment was being 0:11:46.760 --> 0:11:50.560 made for. And in a very smart move in terms 0:11:50.600 --> 0:11:52.800 of how the book would be used, it's a book 0:11:52.840 --> 0:11:56.080 that was very short and very wide, with binding along 0:11:56.160 --> 0:11:58.920 the short edge, and that made it really easy for 0:11:58.960 --> 0:12:01.920 the user to keep the book open while working without 0:12:02.040 --> 0:12:05.440 risking the page's flipping due to how tight the binding was. 0:12:06.320 --> 0:12:09.280 The real accomplishment of Alcega's book was that it opened 0:12:09.320 --> 0:12:12.840 the door to the idea that Taylor's manuals could even 0:12:12.840 --> 0:12:16.080 be a thing, and Spain continued to lead the way 0:12:16.120 --> 0:12:21.040 in printing instructional sewing books for almost a century. In 0:12:21.080 --> 0:12:24.800 fifteen eighty eight, another Spanish book, Geometry and Design for 0:12:24.840 --> 0:12:28.320 the Taylor's Trade, was published and written by a tailor 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:31.960 named Diego de Fryla. It's very similar to al Sega's 0:12:32.000 --> 0:12:35.480 book in terms of layout and organization, including the binding 0:12:35.520 --> 0:12:38.960 style that lays open more easily than a traditional sized book. 0:12:39.800 --> 0:12:43.160 One of the ways Frela's work diverges from his predecessor 0:12:43.280 --> 0:12:46.320 is in the unit of measurement used instead of the 0:12:46.520 --> 0:12:49.959 l Frela uses. The vara and Navara had actually become 0:12:50.040 --> 0:12:53.800 Spain's official standard of measurement in fifteen sixty eight, so 0:12:53.920 --> 0:12:57.679 even before al Sega's book came out, but by fifteen 0:12:57.760 --> 0:13:00.240 eighty eight, when Frela published, it had become more and 0:13:00.280 --> 0:13:04.840 more commonly used and finally replaced that very haphazard assortment 0:13:04.880 --> 0:13:10.599 of measures used in Spain by various municipalities. Incidentally, Avara 0:13:10.640 --> 0:13:13.480 is actually pretty close to a yard at just under 0:13:13.520 --> 0:13:16.840 thirty three inches, so that's zero point eight three six 0:13:16.920 --> 0:13:21.280 meters long. Frila also addressed something that had come up 0:13:21.360 --> 0:13:24.280 when Alcega published his book and which applied to his 0:13:24.320 --> 0:13:28.040 own work as well. And sharing all of this information 0:13:28.160 --> 0:13:31.480 and these pattern blocks both tailors were perceived by some 0:13:31.679 --> 0:13:36.240 members of their trade as basically blabbing professional secrets. The 0:13:36.360 --> 0:13:39.800 knowledge that had for centuries been passed down through the 0:13:39.840 --> 0:13:43.439 apprentice system was suddenly available to anyone who could get 0:13:43.440 --> 0:13:47.520 one of these books. But Frila defended the publications by 0:13:47.679 --> 0:13:50.880 explaining that the information he was sharing was to the 0:13:50.880 --> 0:13:55.559 benefit of the public financially and to the tailor profession reputationally. 0:13:56.480 --> 0:14:00.720 It wasn't very likely that a novice would plant a 0:14:00.840 --> 0:14:04.280 train's tailor just by having a book full of blocks. 0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:08.000 But if people who had their clothes made by tailors 0:14:08.240 --> 0:14:12.960 understood more about the process, including how much fabric various 0:14:12.960 --> 0:14:16.839 garments require, it would prevent them from being taken advantage 0:14:16.880 --> 0:14:20.880 of by unscrupulous vendors, and that would help maintain the 0:14:20.920 --> 0:14:24.200 integrity of the trade. As far as we know. It 0:14:24.280 --> 0:14:27.840 actually wasn't until sixteen seventy one that the French started 0:14:27.840 --> 0:14:31.440 publishing patterns, which began with a book titled The Sincere 0:14:31.480 --> 0:14:35.040 Tailor that was written by Benoi Boulay, and the full 0:14:35.080 --> 0:14:38.520 title of this book translated is The Sincere Tailor, containing 0:14:38.560 --> 0:14:41.560 what must be observed to correctly, trace, cut, and assemble 0:14:41.840 --> 0:14:44.840 all the principal pieces which are made in the tailor's profession. 0:14:45.640 --> 0:14:48.720 And in the opening of the book, Boulay invokes God 0:14:48.840 --> 0:14:51.760 as the reason he is a tailor, writing quote, when 0:14:51.800 --> 0:14:54.960 God calls us into some profession or some job, we 0:14:55.080 --> 0:14:58.840 must consider it as something that divine providence has established. 0:14:59.320 --> 0:15:02.120 Man is a block to spend his life in this work. 0:15:03.040 --> 0:15:06.240 Like the Spanish examples we've mentioned, this has a wide 0:15:06.400 --> 0:15:09.720 range of patterns and mentions the ease of use of 0:15:09.800 --> 0:15:13.600 some of them in their accompanying text. For example, one 0:15:13.760 --> 0:15:17.200 rogue pattern is described this way quote, The said dress 0:15:17.440 --> 0:15:19.480 is made in the manner that I represented in the 0:15:19.520 --> 0:15:23.560 figure below, and to cut it one has very few measurements. 0:15:23.560 --> 0:15:26.840 To take. One only needs the length, which should only 0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:30.640 go to four fingers from the ground, the thickness, and 0:15:30.680 --> 0:15:34.440 the seams must be loose on the body. The tellure 0:15:34.560 --> 0:15:38.120 since there, has been so popular with costumers and clothing 0:15:38.280 --> 0:15:41.680 historians that patterns from it were being reproduced into the 0:15:41.720 --> 0:15:45.440 twentieth century. In the book Period Patterns published in nineteen 0:15:45.480 --> 0:15:48.800 forty two and written by Doris Edson and Lucy Barton 0:15:50.000 --> 0:15:53.440 in English. The first book that included patterns was The 0:15:53.520 --> 0:15:57.200 Tailor's Complete Guide, that did not come out until seventeen 0:15:57.280 --> 0:16:02.120 sixty nine. An attribution here is hazy. Advertisements for the 0:16:02.120 --> 0:16:05.440 guide describe it as the work of Quote, a society 0:16:05.560 --> 0:16:08.880 of adepts in the profession, and the goal of the 0:16:08.920 --> 0:16:13.440 book was to address the common problems of misfitting. Getting 0:16:13.440 --> 0:16:15.920 a garment to sit perfectly on a human body can 0:16:15.960 --> 0:16:19.640 be very tricky, particularly because, in addition to just being 0:16:19.680 --> 0:16:23.000 different shapes, people are not statues, and their movements will 0:16:23.000 --> 0:16:25.200 shift the garment around as they go through their day 0:16:25.200 --> 0:16:28.480 to day lives. And apparently the tailors of England were 0:16:28.520 --> 0:16:30.640 really struggling with this issue at the end of the 0:16:30.640 --> 0:16:34.680 eighteenth century. But this book maybe didn't achieve its goal 0:16:34.760 --> 0:16:37.800 because it was heavily criticized as late as one hundred 0:16:37.840 --> 0:16:41.280 years later by another English tailor named Edward B. Giles, 0:16:41.360 --> 0:16:43.600 who noted in his own book about the history of 0:16:43.640 --> 0:16:47.040 tailoring that Quote its issue could only be warranted by 0:16:47.080 --> 0:16:50.560 the non existence of any other published method, and in 0:16:50.600 --> 0:16:54.720 those circumstances it was better than none. At all. As 0:16:54.760 --> 0:16:57.320 for the US, the first entry into the market of 0:16:57.440 --> 0:17:01.640 tailoring books that featured patterns was The Tailor's Instructor in 0:17:01.720 --> 0:17:06.480 eighteen oh nine. This publication, written by Philadelphia taylors William 0:17:06.560 --> 0:17:10.840 Lapsi and James Queen, has the marvelously long alternate title 0:17:10.880 --> 0:17:15.440 of A Comprehensive Analysis of the Elements of Cutting Garments 0:17:15.480 --> 0:17:19.600 of every kind, to which are added directions for cutting 0:17:19.680 --> 0:17:24.440 various articles of dress for both sexes without the usual 0:17:24.520 --> 0:17:29.160 seams and regimentals of all descriptions with instructions for making 0:17:29.280 --> 0:17:34.159 up work with accuracy and precision. What's really interesting here 0:17:34.280 --> 0:17:37.439 is that Queen and Lapsie actually referenced the Taylor's Complete 0:17:37.480 --> 0:17:41.200 Guide in their introduction, and like Edward Giles, they seem 0:17:41.240 --> 0:17:44.679 to find it lacking. Their criticism of it is a 0:17:44.720 --> 0:17:48.520 little more subtle, though, choosing to praise what came after 0:17:48.760 --> 0:17:52.359 as better quote. The following work will no doubt produce 0:17:52.400 --> 0:17:55.000 in your minds a degree of curiosity, as it is 0:17:55.040 --> 0:17:57.440 the first of its kind that has made its appearance 0:17:57.440 --> 0:18:00.680 in the United States, and we believe the second ever 0:18:00.760 --> 0:18:03.960 known in the English language. The first was published in 0:18:04.000 --> 0:18:07.080 London in the year seventeen ninety six, and received the 0:18:07.119 --> 0:18:10.119 liberal patronage of the trade in general, not only for 0:18:10.160 --> 0:18:14.080 its novelty, but for the interesting and useful instructions contained 0:18:14.080 --> 0:18:18.680 there in. The one following was more judiciously executed, being 0:18:18.720 --> 0:18:21.600 an improvement on the first, and exhibited one of the 0:18:21.640 --> 0:18:25.359 briefest compens of instruction, both in cutting and making up 0:18:25.400 --> 0:18:28.439 work of different kinds, so that from the master taylor 0:18:28.560 --> 0:18:32.160 down to the youngest apprentice it proved interesting and useful. 0:18:33.040 --> 0:18:35.600 This book begins with quite a bit of writing about 0:18:35.600 --> 0:18:40.000 clothing theory, including the nature of fashion, writing quote the 0:18:40.119 --> 0:18:44.280 eye will soon discriminate between the elegant contour and dress 0:18:44.440 --> 0:18:48.399 of a complete gentleman and the extravagant whimsies of a 0:18:48.440 --> 0:18:52.800 city fop. These are great considerations in the articles of dress, 0:18:52.960 --> 0:18:57.320 the former being the result of grace, sensibility, and refined experience, 0:18:57.840 --> 0:19:01.520 the latter the extravagance of follow under the sanction of 0:19:01.560 --> 0:19:05.800 the whim of fashion. And even before a single pattern appears. 0:19:05.800 --> 0:19:08.840 In the first section, which is on outerwear, there's an 0:19:09.000 --> 0:19:13.160 essay titled a Dissertation on coats. Then it gets into 0:19:13.240 --> 0:19:16.600 a how to, still quite worthy, on measuring a thin 0:19:16.720 --> 0:19:20.240 man for a single breasted coat and notes which measures 0:19:20.280 --> 0:19:23.680 mapped to which figures in the drawings of pattern pieces 0:19:23.720 --> 0:19:27.919 that follow, So not too bad in terms of conveying 0:19:28.000 --> 0:19:32.960 the information needed to create clothing. All of these books, though, 0:19:33.000 --> 0:19:36.960 were really prepared for the tailoring market and professionals more 0:19:37.000 --> 0:19:40.119 than the at home stitcher, even though there were absolutely 0:19:40.320 --> 0:19:43.120 likely a few non tailors who managed to access them 0:19:43.400 --> 0:19:45.480 and perhaps learned a few tricks of the trade in 0:19:45.520 --> 0:19:48.800 the process. This started to shift a bit in the 0:19:48.880 --> 0:19:52.440 early to mid eighteen hundreds, as tailors were augmenting their 0:19:52.440 --> 0:19:55.840 income by offering lessons to anyone who had the money 0:19:55.880 --> 0:19:59.240 to enroll with them. This still wasn't usually a person 0:19:59.359 --> 0:20:03.200 sewing for them, though it was in most cases tailors, 0:20:03.280 --> 0:20:06.680 or would be tailors from rural areas who would travel, 0:20:06.840 --> 0:20:10.199 for example, to London to learn from a pro. And 0:20:10.240 --> 0:20:13.920 while this didn't democratize tailoring and pattern access for everyone, 0:20:14.080 --> 0:20:17.480 it does mark another big step out from under the 0:20:17.560 --> 0:20:21.000 umbrella of trade secrets that a lot of professionals still 0:20:21.040 --> 0:20:25.720 believed in for centuries. Outside of this handful of publications 0:20:25.760 --> 0:20:30.000 we've mentioned, specific pattern blocks were passed down through families 0:20:30.119 --> 0:20:33.000 or through a shop's apprentice lines, and they were generally 0:20:33.080 --> 0:20:36.879 pretty carefully guarded, but by the mid nineteenth century that 0:20:37.040 --> 0:20:40.840 had all changed significantly. More and more books on tailoring 0:20:40.920 --> 0:20:43.840 started to come out, and some even offered early grading 0:20:43.960 --> 0:20:46.960 systems to try to help address the needs of multiple 0:20:47.000 --> 0:20:50.679 sizes to aid in customized fittings without needing to draft 0:20:50.720 --> 0:20:54.760 brand new slopers. As this loosening of trade secrecy grew 0:20:54.800 --> 0:20:59.480 more common, periodicals dedicated to tailoring also started to emerge, 0:20:59.760 --> 0:21:02.880 with patterns for women as well as men, and tissue 0:21:02.920 --> 0:21:06.400 patterns started to be sold in England, first as standalone 0:21:06.440 --> 0:21:11.080 items advertised in magazines and then included as inserts in 0:21:11.119 --> 0:21:14.919 those magazines. We are about to get to sewing books 0:21:14.960 --> 0:21:17.480 that were targeted to women in just a moment, but 0:21:17.560 --> 0:21:20.159 first we will hear from the sponsors that keep stuffymus 0:21:20.200 --> 0:21:33.720 in history class Going. Books specifically published for women home 0:21:33.880 --> 0:21:36.600 sists started to appear on the market as early as 0:21:36.600 --> 0:21:41.240 the seventeen nineties, but these were often less about fashion 0:21:41.400 --> 0:21:44.840 and more about utility or in some cases even charity. 0:21:45.320 --> 0:21:48.600 For example, the first known of these was titled Instructions 0:21:48.600 --> 0:21:51.920 for Cutting Out Apparel for the Poor, so this didn't 0:21:51.920 --> 0:21:54.600 have patterns so much as directions for how to use 0:21:54.640 --> 0:21:58.440 basic rectangle cuts to create very simple clothing for people 0:21:58.520 --> 0:22:02.320 who just needed something to cover them. There was no 0:22:02.520 --> 0:22:06.000 fashion in the mix at all. Similarly, the eighteen oh 0:22:06.040 --> 0:22:11.119 eight publication of The Ladies' Economical Assistant did feature actual patterns, 0:22:11.119 --> 0:22:14.399 but they were no frills, extra basic patterns. Right. You 0:22:14.440 --> 0:22:16.760 weren't going to find any pockets anywhere, and you weren't 0:22:16.760 --> 0:22:20.040 going to find any lines for placement of trims. And 0:22:20.119 --> 0:22:22.320 a lot of these patterns were actually for children, so 0:22:22.359 --> 0:22:25.800 that mothers could just keep their babies clothed. Again, not 0:22:25.920 --> 0:22:29.399 so much about fashion. In the book The History of 0:22:29.520 --> 0:22:32.720 the Paper Pattern Industry, which came out in twenty fourteen, 0:22:33.320 --> 0:22:37.080 Joyce spanbell Emery notes that it's entirely possible that full 0:22:37.160 --> 0:22:41.199 sized patterns for women's garments were available as early as 0:22:41.240 --> 0:22:45.080 the eighteen thirties. There were ads and magazines for patterns 0:22:45.119 --> 0:22:48.280 that were available to purchase at retailers, but there aren't 0:22:48.440 --> 0:22:53.520 any known surviving examples of such patterns. As most patterns 0:22:53.560 --> 0:22:56.040 were still issued in small scale and needed to be 0:22:56.119 --> 0:22:59.520 hand enlarged. A lot of companies developed their own in 0:22:59.600 --> 0:23:04.159 large systems to go along with proprietary patterned diagrams, so 0:23:04.320 --> 0:23:08.520 by using any given system. Home stitchers and professional dressmakers 0:23:08.520 --> 0:23:11.919 were assured by the manufacturer that they would have the 0:23:11.960 --> 0:23:16.880 greatest ease of success. Magazines that were focused on women's 0:23:16.920 --> 0:23:20.040 garment sewing started to circulate in the second and third 0:23:20.160 --> 0:23:24.120 decades of the eighteen hundreds. The World of Fashion began 0:23:24.240 --> 0:23:27.959 publishing in London in eighteen twenty nine. This was a 0:23:28.000 --> 0:23:30.800 magazine that wasn't so much about sewing a dress as 0:23:30.840 --> 0:23:35.560 it was about informing readers about fashion trends. It featured 0:23:35.600 --> 0:23:37.960 color plates at the front and then text in the 0:23:37.960 --> 0:23:41.919 main pages describing and commenting on the clothes represented in 0:23:42.040 --> 0:23:46.119 those opening pages. For example, in one entry in the 0:23:46.200 --> 0:23:50.359 January eighteen twenty nine issue, there's this write up about headwear. 0:23:51.160 --> 0:23:56.760 Quote caps Lapont and Ala Psyche constitute the most favorite headdresses. 0:23:57.280 --> 0:24:00.960 The former has the pawn ornament in front of splendid 0:24:01.040 --> 0:24:05.439 blonde and very narrow pink satin rulo, under which is 0:24:05.520 --> 0:24:09.240 the stiffening which keeps the areola so formed in shape. 0:24:09.600 --> 0:24:13.440 This gap is tastefully but slightly ornamented with white gauze 0:24:13.480 --> 0:24:17.680 striped ribbon and in front next the hair with full 0:24:17.720 --> 0:24:22.560 blown roses. The call is of tool finished by pink 0:24:22.560 --> 0:24:26.600 and white satin ribbon. Tila Grek, a psyche cap of 0:24:26.800 --> 0:24:30.520 toul and very broad blonde of a most superb pattern, 0:24:30.800 --> 0:24:34.439 is entitled to a high degree of admiration. It is 0:24:34.560 --> 0:24:37.880 ornamented across the front with half a wreath of damask 0:24:38.040 --> 0:24:41.320