Timesmith Dress History
18th century mantua-making
Contact
Bognor Regis
West Sussex
United Kingdom
PO21 2QA
About
Rebecca Olds is a scholar of historical clothing and textiles who uses making as a lens through which we can better understand the lived experiences of people in the past. Since 2017, her research, making and teaching practices have focused on the historical trade of mantua making.
Mantua making thrived in Britain and its colonies (and in other European countries and their colonies) from the late 17th century into the early 19th century. This was a female-dominated trade, whereby women made outer clothing for women, based on shapes cut in the fabrics for the garment, right on the wearer's body. The trade differed from tailoring in its three-dimentional approach to cutting and fitting, rather than the tailor's methods of drafting two-dimensional patterns based on body measurements. Unlike the modern art of draping, the fit was perfected in the lining of the garment, and then the garment itself was built by cutting and configuring the outer fabric into the desired style and then mounting that fabric, as components (i.e. bodice front, bodice back, sleeves, skirts, etc.) onto the fitted lining.
In the 18th century, having clothing made for you like this was nothing unusual, special or expensive, unlike having a completely bespoke garment made for you today. Sadly, however, in the wake of political, economical and social revolutions, the trade completely died out in the early decades of the 19th century. However, in the 21st century, the unique methods used by mantua makers have been re-discovered and re-deployed for specialist purposes, such as clothing reenactors and living historians in the most authentic apparel, or supplementing and supporting surviving garments on display in museums.
Rebecca studies original surviving garments from the 'heyday' of the mantua makers, teasing out their methods, skills and mindset, to put them into practice for clients today keen to better represent aspects of our historical past and shared heritage. She is active within a network of other makers, researchers and teachers, both gaining and sharing such knowledge and skills.
In 2024, Rebecca taught teams of staff and volunteers at two National Trust for Scotland sites how to make 18th century gowns that bring history to life. At the Georgian House, her team built a 1760s long sack gown to interpret the fashions depicted in a portrait by renowned Edinburgh artist Allan Ramsay. The portrait and gown -- animated by the volunteer who modelled it -- were the 'face' of the National Trust for Scotland's "Ramsay and Edinburgh Fashion" exhibition. At Culloden Battlefield, Rebecca has been teaching staff and volunteers mantua-making skills so that they can make their own period clothing to wear while conducting tours.
Rebecca offers a bespoke mix of making, teaching and consultancy to each client, tailored to their particular needs and goals. In doing so, she hopes that the skill and labour of women engaged in the mantua making trade can be remembered and preserved.
Mini craft gallery
1770s long sack gown made as live public event at Paxton House in 2023. Photo credit: Fiona Salvesen Murrell.
MADE BY TIMESMITH DRESS HISTORY
Setting sleeves. Live public programming at Paxton House, 2023. Photo credit: Fiona Salvesen Murrell.
MADE BY TIMESMITH DRESS HISTORY
Speaking to an audience at the Inverness Museum & Art Gallery about re-creating Isabella Mactavish Fraser’s 1785 wedding dress. Photo credit: Sally Tuckett.
MADE BY TIMESMITH DRESS HISTORY
Spaced backstitching — quick, flexible, strong — was one of the main stitches used by 18th c. mantua makers in constructing women’s clothing. Photo credit: Rebecca Olds.
MADE BY TIMESMITH DRESS HISTORY
Recreation of the 1785 tartan wedding dress of Isabella Mactavish Fraser. Photo credit: Lauren Stowell.
MADE BY TIMESMITH DRESS HISTORY
Cutting out the lining pieces for the gown bodice, right on the wearer’s body. Photo credit: David Fettes.
MADE BY TIMESMITH DRESS HISTORY
