Tailored Garments

Tailoring garments includes cutting and sewing fabric pieces to fit the body. The concept can be thought to exist in ancient cultures that would have used animal skins, bones and sinew as well as cutting tools. People could survive in a variety of climates as well as be mobile wearing trousers and tunic forms of clothing. This idea has traveled through history, surviving and propelled in the mechanization of sewing during the industrial revolution.

Here are some examples of tailored garments. First is a costume I created by re-drafting a commercial pattern to emulate the Bustle fashion of the 1880's.  A corset as well as additional undergarments were sewn to wear beneath the skirt and jacket.  There are many layers to this costume; quite uncomfortable.  I was able to redraft the commercial pattern via help from images, patterns, and drafting notes for 19th century garments. These patterns were often published in books and magazines such as Godey's Lady Book.

Next is a vintage 1950's dress; a Tony Karen. I found this dress in a thrift store. Too small to fit me, it holds important information about the construction of garments from this era. Vintage as well as reprints of vintage sewing patterns can be acquired to recreate and understand how twentieth century tailored clothes were/are assembled.

The word tailored connotes the idea of a tailor in his shop cutting a suit for a businessman. This is a surviving method of tailored fashion, the military uniform is another. This Royal Naval Uniform 1864, can be seen at the National Maritime Museum. Trousers and jacket are cut to fit a man's body.