When I tell a new acquaintance that I am a dressmaker, they may wonder what that word means today, when so much of our wardrobes is purchased off the rack. Further explaining that I consider my dressmaking work to be an art adds another degree of perplexity to those who aren’t involved in the creation of custom clothing.

What is the art of the dressmaker? For some years now, I have been thinking about my response to this question. As I have sought to uncover a definition from trusted dictionary sources and from those who are dressmakers, professionally or primarily for themselves, it has become clear that the term can mean different things to different people and maybe in different contexts.

Dictionary definitions

Oxford Dictionary of English says that art is skill as the result of knowledge and practice. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary further explains that art is an occupation requiring knowledge and skill. Both definitions pair skill—a technical ability—with knowledge, an
intellectual ability.

For “dressmaker,” Oxford English Dictionary simply states that a dressmaker is a maker of dresses, especially as an occupation. Merriam-Webster shares this definition.

If a dressmaker is simply someone who sews garments, how can their work be considered an art form?

New terminology

In my discussions of these ideas, I have found that the word “dressmaker” has been invariably replaced by seamstress, sewer, sewist, seamster, or modiste.

But most of my peers who sew for private customers prefer “dressmaker.” Often, this is because that was the earliest exposure they had to this vocabulary, through a mother or grandmother who called herself a dressmaker.

In 20th century literature, “dressmaker” implied a custom clothier who worked for individual clients. Seamstress was the name for a sewing professional who worked in a manufacturing setting. Therefore, a dressmaker’s…