Old Photo Pick - 1

One dress a month... One ritual a lifetime. Some people just don't like custom sewing. No, they wouldn't mind a new dress, but the process is killing them as they say. It is soooo much time!.. Fittings! To tell you the truth, average fitting session takes about 15 minutes. Well, there is measuring one, one fitting session, and voila! - on the third time you get your dress. Or trousers, or jacket. Sometimes there is the second fitting session required, but trust me - in this case you'll spend years more to find dress for you in-store. 

Some people like the process of custom sewing. They like freedom to make adjustments during fittings. They like freedom to wear what they want or what nobody else is wearing. They don't want to compromise their self with the poor  choice in the shops. They understand it will take less time and effort to stand fittings than seeking ready-made garment. Or they just like ritual. Tradition. Culture. Uniqueness. 

Have you ever wondered what dressmaking looked like a century ago? Surprisingly new invention is our common measuring tape. It was invented in the first half of the 19th century (different sources mention different dates, but it is either 1810 or 1847).  It was not so popular by the end of the century though. This photo shows measuring process in the late 19th century. Great patience of seamstress and her client. Looking at this photo I must say my clients really have nothing to complain. This is how pattern was made: they placed tape on every few inches of the body, cut the tape according to the precise measures, then took this tape construction off the lady and transferred it to fabric. Lots of muslin copies were made these days before cutting fashion fabric. In the movie Sisters Of Fashion about sisters Fontana who founded their own fashion house in 1941 in Rome and made great impact on Italian fashion development, there is said something about 13 fittings of one dress... No, we are much reasonable nowadays.