Fabricating Women

The Seamstresses of Old Regime France, 1675–1791

Häftad, Engelska, 2001

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Winner of the 2002 Berkshire Prize, presented by the Berkshire Conference of Women HistoriansFabricating Women examines the social institution of the seamstresses’ guild in France from the time of Louis XIV to the Revolution. In contrast with previous scholarship on women and gender in the early modern period, Clare Haru Crowston asserts that the rise of the absolute state, with its centralizing and unifying tendencies, could actually increase women’s economic, social, and legal opportunities and allow them to thrive in corporate organizations such as the guild. Yet Crowston also reveals paradoxical consequences of the guild’s success, such as how its growing membership and visibility ultimately fostered an essentialized femininity that was tied to fashion and appearances.Situating the seamstresses’ guild as both an economic and political institution, Crowston explores in particular its relationship with the all-male tailors’ guild, which had dominated the clothing fabrication trade in France until women challenged this monopoly during the seventeenth century. Combining archival evidence with visual images, technical literature, philosophical treatises, and fashion journals, she also investigates the techniques the seamstresses used to make and sell clothing, how the garments reflected and shaped modern conceptions of femininity, and guild officials’ interactions with royal and municipal authorities. Finally, by offering a revealing portrait of these women’s private lives-explaining, for instance, how many seamstresses went beyond traditional female boundaries by choosing to remain single and establish their own households-Crowston challenges existing ideas about women’s work and family in early modern Europe.Although clothing lay at the heart of French economic production, social distinction, and cultural identity, Fabricating Women is the first book to investigate this immense and archetypal female guild in depth. It will be welcomed by students and scholars of French and European history, women’s and labor history, fashion and technology, and early modern political economy.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2001-12-07
Mått156 x 235 x 44 mm
Vikt916 g
FormatHäftad
SpråkEngelska
Antal sidor528
FörlagDuke University Press
ISBN9780822326663

Tillhör följande kategorier

Europas historia inom Historia och arkeologi
Genusvetenskap inom Samhälle och politik

List of Figures and Tables List of Abreviations Acknowledgments Introduction Part One: Making the Goods 1. Seamstresses and the Culture of Clothing in Old Regime France 2. From Mending to modes: Trade Hierarchies and the Labor Market 3. Tools, Techniques, and Commercial Practices Part Two: Making the Guilds 4. The Royal Government, Guilds, and the Seamstresses of Paris, Normandy, and Provence 5. The Tailors and the Seamstresses: Corporate Privilege, Gender, and the Law 6. Women’s Corporate Self-Government: The Administration of the Parisian Seamstresses’ Guild Part Three: Making the Mistresses 7. Career Paths in the Seamstresses’ Trade: From Apprenticeship to Mistress-ship 8. Marriage, Fortune, and Family: The World of the Mistress Seamstress 9. Making the New Century: The Seamstresses, fin et suite Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

“Fabricating Women offers a richly textured and much-needed look at the experience of working women that will enhance our understanding of the old regime in a variety of ways. This well-grounded portrait of one area of history simultaneously throws light on far broader issues, such as the role of the state, the working of the economy, and the legal status and economic opportunities of women.”-Gail Bossenga, author of The Politics of Privilege: Old Regime and Revolution in Lille “A welcome contribution to the literature on women’s work in preindustrial Europe. This is so well placed in the economic and social history of the period that it will become a classic among the books that define the age.”-Daryl M. Hafter, author of European Women and Preindustrial Craft "Crowston establishes herself in the forefront of scholars working on the eighteenth-century French economy, in a book that rightfully belongs on the shelf next to those of Thomas Brennan, Jean-Marc Moriceau, and Steven Kaplan." - James B. Collins (Enterprise & Society) "Crowston provides fascinating insights into the lifestyle of the most prosperous dressmakers, and her book will delight students of material culture." - Pamela Pilbeam (American Historical Review)