Maîtresses couturières was a French

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...

organisation for

seamstress A dressmaker, also known as a seamstress, is a person who makes custom clothing for women, such as dresses, blouses, and evening gowns. Dressmakers were historically known as mantua-makers, and are also known as a modiste or fabrician. Not ...

es within the city of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, active from 30 March 1675 until 1791. It was one of only three guilds open to women in Paris prior to 1776, the other two being the '' Maitresses bouquetieres'' and the '' Maîtresses marchandes lingères''. They had permission to manufacture clothes for women and children, with the exception of the most expensive court dress for women. This placed them in competition with the

tailor A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...

s' guild, who had permission to manufacture clothes for both men and women. The guild was somewhat unusual: though the occupation of seamstress was very common and socially accepted for a woman, it was normally practiced outside of the guilds in Europe prior to the 19th century, and discriminated against by the tailors' guilds. Paris was rare in having an actual guild for seamstresses, and it was further increased with the ''

Marchandes de modes Marchande de modes was a French Guild organisation for women fashion merchants or milliners, normally meaning ornaments for headdresses, hats and dresses, within the city of Paris, active from August 1776 until 1791. It played a dominating role wit ...

'' of 1776.Du Rietz, Anita (2013). ''Kvinnors entreprenörskap: under 400 år'' (1). Stockholm: Dialogos. Libris 13541091.

References

Sources

* * {{Cite book, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3FsBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA31, title=Luxury and Gender in European Towns, 1700-1914, last=Simonton, first=Deborah, publisher=Routledge, year=2014, isbn=9781317611363, editor-last=Simonton, editor-first=Deborah, editor2-last=Kaartinen, editor2-first=Marjo, editor3-last=Montenach, editor3-first=Anne, language=en Guilds in France Women in France Historical legal occupations History of Paris 1791 disestablishments in France History of fashion 1675 establishments in France Fashion occupations 17th-century fashion French businesspeople in fashion 17th-century French businesspeople 18th-century French businesspeople 1675 in France