In British English, a haberdasher is a business or person who sells small articles for sewing, dressmaking and

knitting Knitting is a method by which yarn is manipulated to create a textile, or fabric. It is used to create many types of garments. Knitting may be done by hand or by machine. Knitting creates stitches: loops of yarn in a row, either flat or i ...

, such as buttons,

ribbon A ribbon or riband is a thin band of material, typically cloth but also plastic or sometimes metal, used primarily as decorative binding and tying. Cloth ribbons are made of natural materials such as silk, cotton, and jute and of synthetic mater ...

s, and zippers; in the United States, the term refers instead to a retailer who sells men's clothing, including

suit A suit, lounge suit, or business suit is a set of clothes comprising a suit jacket and trousers of identical textiles worn with a collared dress shirt, necktie, and dress shoes. A skirt suit is similar, but with a matching skirt instead of tr ...

shirt A shirt is a cloth garment for the upper body (from the neck to the waist). Originally an undergarment worn exclusively by men, it has become, in American English, a catch-all term for a broad variety of upper-body garments and undergarments. I ...

s, and

necktie A necktie, or simply a tie, is a piece of cloth worn for decorative purposes around the neck, resting under the shirt collar and knotted at the throat, and often draped down the chest. Variants include the ascot, bow, bolo, zipper tie, cra ...

s. The sewing articles are called "haberdashery" in British English. The corresponding term is " notions" in

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lan ...

where haberdashery is the name for the shop itself, though it's largely an archaicism now. In Britain, haberdashery shops, or "haberdashers", were a mainstay of high street retail until recent decades, but are now uncommon, due to the decline in home dressmaking, knitting and other textile skills and hobbies, and the rise of internet shopping. They were very often drapers as well, the term for sellers of cloth. __NOTOC__

Origin and use

The word ''haberdasher'' appears in Chaucer's '' Canterbury Tales''. It is derived from the Anglo-French word ''hapertas'' meaning "small ware", a word of unknown origin. A haberdasher would retail small wares, the goods of the pedlar, while a mercer would specialize in "linens, silks, fustian, worsted piece-goods and bedding".Sutton, Anne F. (2005). ''The Mercery of London: Trade, Goods and People, 1130–1578'', p.118. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Saint Louis IX Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, was King of France from 1226 to 1270, and the most illustrious of the House of Capet, Direct Capetians. He was Coronation of the French monarch, c ...

, King of France 1226–70, is the patron saint of French haberdashers. In Belgium and elsewhere in Continental Europe,

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-da ...

remains their patron saint, while Saint Catherine was adopted by the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers in the City of London.

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* * {{Sewing 01 Clothing retailers Sales occupations Milliners Suit makers

Origin and use

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