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Sarah A. Bendall

Historian of Early Modern Fashion and Material Culture

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Recreative Practice

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For centuries, dressmaking was one of the most important sources of paid employment for women. Yet before the late seventeenth century, most outer garments were made by male tailors, while women were largely confined to sewing linen undergarments and accessories or working informally within family businesses. Historians debate whether Charles actually made this comment. However, the first impression that Catherine and her Portuguese ladies made when they arrived in England certainly bemused onlookers. What’s old is new again 💋 Meet the Devets: a family of female merchants who supplied the Stuart queens and London’s fashionistas with millinery wares and luxury Asian imports. Far more than just shopkeepers, they helped shape London’s fashion culture and were influential entrepreneurs at the heart of a new global consumer culture. Susan Feilding, Countess of Denbigh, is often overshadowed in histories of the Stuart courts by her brother, George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham.

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