For other uses, see Dressmaker (disambiguation).
"Seamstress" redirects here. For other uses, see The Seamstress.
Cutting fabric for a dress using a pattern.

A dressmaker is a person who makes women's clothing, especially as an occupation.[1] The activity or occupation is known as dressmaking.[2]

A seamstress is a woman whose occupation is sewing and making clothes, and the term can be used for a dressmaker.[3] A tailor, by comparison, makes, repairs and alters clothing, particularly garments such as jackets, trousers and coats.[4]

Terminology

In the 18th century, a dressmaker could be called a mantua-maker. The term originally referred to a maker of mantuas and later came to be used more generally for a dressmaker.[5][6]

Modiste is an older term for a person who makes fashionable women's clothing.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Dressmaker". Cambridge Dictionary. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 2026-09-28.
  2. ^ "Dressmaking". Cambridge Dictionary. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 2026-09-28.
  3. ^ "Seamstress". Cambridge Dictionary. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 2026-09-28.
  4. ^ "Tailor". Cambridge Dictionary. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 2026-09-28.
  5. ^ "mantua-maker, n." Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. 2023-03-02. Retrieved 2026-02-21.
  6. ^ "Mantua maker, mantua woman". The Dictionary of Fashion History: 171–171. 2017. doi:10.5040/9781474269728.1660.
  7. ^ "Modiste". Cambridge Dictionary. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 2026-09-28.
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