Summary: History of Dressmaking and Tailoring:Instruments and Techniques, Written by Sara Piccolo Paci

            It is important, but complex to understand the creation and evolution of tools, patternmaking, and dressmaking, but that is what this writing explains. With the use of the first mediums- first animal skins, then fabrics, it is interesting to note that skins began as a rectangle. The first piece of the puzzle comes from the needle which allowed tailoring as well as the ability to join together. The needle and thread is the reason we can have more than just draped garments. A needle began as a bone, then evolved to steel, but hardly changes in shape or function. Scissors are also an important tool, and it says that some master tailors hold the act so highly that they bless themselves before cutting. Scissors began as knives held together by springs and measurements were taken with hand width and arm width and then kept for future purposes by marking that measurement on a string. Another item was the button. They could serve a functional or decorational purpose from the beginning. More of any material, skin, fur, or fabric the has always come with a higher price. Having “draped” generously fabric on your clothing always presents as more affluent because of this fact. And although this fact might not be true so much anymore, there are additions like layers and the fact of many more than the necessary amount of garments in one persons closet. The gusset, a square insertion of fabric, was in response to the tightness in the arm and shoulder. Two key people that evolved in this industry were tailors and garment producers. Tailors started as people who mended ripped materials, and the garment producers always had their specialties in certain areas, never just general for all types. They did find hardship, when their trade was hardly considered a profession, yet the designers were highly respected for their “art” but would never know how to actually sew a button. There were two different designers for men and women, and patterns were only to be distributed down inside of the family. In the 1800’s, patterns became rounded, which is still in use today. Capucci talks about the evolution of making a garment. He says that drawings are the most important, and then there are fabric swatches, a muslin sample, which turns into the actual fabric sample, and then there is retouching and finishing until the garment is perfect. It is also key to remember that a tailor needs to know the human anatomy, and the client, and know how to enhance the good and down play the bad. They must use a 2D medium in order to cover a 3D body, and know how to use any given fabric, and that is the simple job of the tailor, although not simple at all.  

 Summary by Gabriella Bonatesta