Alexander McQueen & The Patriarchy Problem in Modern Fashion
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 ต.ค. 2023
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Labeling an interest in fashion as female but having the Tops of the top be exclusively male reminds me soooo much of cooking. Cooking and an interest in it is labelled female as long as it is UNPAID care Work. But as soon as you take a look at top Chefs that actually make a good living by cooking... They are all men 😅
Im a woman working in a kitchen and let me say how hard I relate. Very frustrating to always be looked down but expected to do the same or more
Just like in IT. As long as coding was punching cards and seen as boring work they DIDN"T want to do, men were happy to let women do it, but the second it started being seen as having value AND being a way to make damn good money, Poof! Here come the men to take over IT fields and try to push women right the hell out.
Don’t forget make-up
Ooh you want to change your appearance a bit sure but DONT SELL IT AND MAKE MONEY
Also teaching.
@@adaddinsaneyep and Nursing, cleaning, hairdressing. Underpaid women at the bottom, men at the top.
As a medievalist, I can say this isn't the first time men stole a job from women when it became profitable. The big one in the Middle Ages was beer making.
Yes, good video by Jason of Modern History about this....
@m.maclellan7147 also a good book called Ale, Beer, and Brewsters by Judith Bennett.
this is has happened many times for basically all the jobs; there was a time when computer programming was marketed to women as an opportunity (to make great money) because it made use of skills that women naturally have...
I have no knowledge directly, but I wonder if midwifery / medicine is another instance. I mean men taking over a field and creating barriers to entry.
@wt_9026 absolutely, especially midwifery
It’s almost criminal what has happened to the value of garment work, and it IS criminal that it’s so hard for women worldwide to make a living making clothes.
Right. It IS criminal
You do realise it affects men and women (Captilism)
@@allangradus1917 I’m sure they do. However this video is about women in the history of the garment industry. It is not about how capitalism impacts men
I haven't watched Abby's video yet, but I imagine that high fashion probably encourages fast fashion as well.
If you needed criminal examples, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory is a great example of Grade A BS.
Unrelated to fashion, but when it's mentioned how it's "cheaper" or "free" to make things at home, it reminded me how annoying it is when people say breastfeeding a baby is free. Those things are only free when you completely devalue the time of the person doing it.
And the food that person needs to eat to produce the milk. And the time it takes to prepare and eat the extra food.
Plus it's entirely untrue. Now that home sewing is viewed as a hobby for women with time and money, prices for supplies have soared. Uncut cloth has become very hard to find outside of sewing or craft stores that charge premium prices. Sure you can shop sales, but that's more of a timesink and requires you to wait until the fabric you want/need goes on sale.
Plus the care, attention and bandwidth necessary to be available to the baby, the loss of sleep and the increased nutritional needs of both! It's a job.
And the cost of being constantly available every three or four hours to breastfeed, the stigma and embarrassment of pumping at work.
And if you do pump, that requires equipment and supplies, which aren't free.
Every time men realised there was money to be made in a female-lead field you can bloody be sure they found a way to insert themselves in.
Happened with Paleontology too.
It was considered a silly female hobby once, before men started waging wars with one another on who could name more speices and become more famous.
And when men take over it's suddenly an improtant job that has to be well (or better) paid, and vice versa.
In my country (Sweden), as more and more women have become medical doctors the salaries have lowered.
Last year in the UK there was a report saying there were more people from non private education getting into Oxford and Cambridge days later a top newspaper started implying Oxford degrees in subjects like archeology were not worth pursuing.
The patriarchy in action.
Programming used to be for silly little office ladies, too!
@@bumblebramblebranchsame in America. As soon as women dominated arnp and pa schools they lowered the salaries even though the legal responsibilities increased 😅
midwifery => male drs
I, a woman, used to work at an outdoor company that produced men's and women's garments (20 years ago). For the women's wear, the designers and pattern makers were all women, as was the marketing team. We had to present and sell all the designs to men who were the directors, men who were the regional buyers, and men who owned the stores where the clothes would be on the sales floor. It was so frustrating for us women to have to validate our research and skills all the time! We would visit the factories in Asia where the clothes were produced and all the workers were women, but we dealt with mostly, but not all, men as our production managers. I remember lots of after-work rage discussions with my female co-workers about the lack of female representation through all levels of approvals. Even with focus group data from our female target market would be met with skepticism from the male decision-makers.
Lol, as a 60 year old woman,you could almost just "cut and paste" this well stated argument for ANY company making anything.
The sexism/misogyny is REAL !
The "what do women want? We asked a man!" attitude is so common.
It’s psychotic to me that men think a female led market can not be led by female professionals. Like y’all think our “frivolous little things” are soooo stupid why are you all up in the field?
Who's to blame for women not taking more of those jobs?
@theprousteffect9717 "taking"? Women are qualified for these jobs, women apply for these jobs, women are not hired for these jobs. Who decides who is hired? I think that is the question we need to ask.
Makeup has a very similar issue where the primary demographic is women/femmes but the owners and creative directors are men (notably cis too)
And white, hence the nude range being five different shades of beige
@@PrincessNinja007 you are so right! See also: bronzers and contours that go to paperbag shades
Same with HAIR!!!! -former stylist
The thing is tho, male stylists guy or straight are more successful .period. apparently, it's the same with dental hygienists, just learned the other day... bc women love a man to touch them and help them be beautiful. It's a real problem #DecentralizeMen
@@PrincessNinja007White girl here who has never found makeup light enough or didn't turn me orange.
@@belajadevotchka2that doesn't negate the fact that the industry overwhelmingly caters to white complexions.
I worked at Louis Vuitton corporate for years and was repeatedly bypassed for promotions by men. My department would predominantly use my education and ideas, and they would use them as their own. I was given no credit, I was given no promotion commensurate with my contribution. And when I finally went to HR with years of evidence, instead of helping me, they built a slander campaign against me. And do you know who helped them the most with the slander campaign? Other women they then enticed with promotions if they would help ruin my reputation. Fashion is sadly a very ugly and painful industry.
So sorry to hear your experience. This is rampant these days. So many industries that were for women by women now operate like this (mother and former stylist here) Unpaid labor is a major issue for mothers, too. Because, it is. That's why abortion is being outlawed. the fact that Margot robbie was hot until barbie movie (about patriarchy) she helped produce "promising young woman" now men lashing out calling her "mid" and all the hate for Taylor swift (see her music video the man specifically) Sorry for my punctuation and grammar, but iykyk. There is nothing to prove its all facts and there's an uprising. Now I'm off to do my sleeper care ❤❤❤
*self care
It's so sad this story doesn't even surprise me. Hope you found something better :)
@@PeachyKins Luis Vuitton was also known to be anti-semitic. For many years, they wouldn't hire people who couldn't work on Saturday.
The same thing happened to my sister in the entertainment industry. 7 or 8 top positions, all filled by men. In the past 20 years or longer, there has only been one female talent agent in the department she worked in (at one of the country’s biggest talent agencies) and that woman was excluded from work lunches the men held and ultimately fired for being pregnant. After seeing this and realizing she was goin to be kept as an underpaid junior agent/assistant and never get a promotion over men who had been there for less time, my sister had to get out.
I love this video.
I’ve been working in corporate fashion for 7 years. Every time I’m in the office it is painfully clear how many men are in leadership positions while women fill roles that demand actual creative labor. When we work with vendors and factories, I see the same thing- men who argue and talk over each other in meetings, and women who are knowledgeable about the inner workings of their facilities and product. The fashion industry is overwhelmingly feminine in makeup, but there are SO many men getting paid the big bucks to lord over us and it’s annoying as hell.
To be frank that's what I see in STEM and IT too. Half of the job is tippy toeing about men's feelings. If I somehow get into a team of all women we get👏🏻 shit 👏🏻done👏🏻
@@hypatiakovalevskayasklodow9195 , women do get shit done. And generally without a lot of the sturm und drang that men are so prone to. I'm an older lady gamer, and I raised my offspring to be gamers as well. When my daughter was younger, she was playing a game where you have to find a group of people who will agree to gather together to do a raid, kill the monsters, vanquish the bosses... that sort of thing. She told me how she managed to find a group of 10 people on a global game call-out for a raid group in the game chat and they set to work. There was almost no talking at all - the occasional entry in the party text chat regarding a mob coming from an unseen corner - things like that. They systematically went about what they had to do with little fanfare, but with a lot of precision and fun. Afterward, as they were dividing the loot from the final kill, they discovered that, out of the 10 people in the group, only one was male. The rest were all women. They all agreed - even the guy - that it was the best run of that raid they'd ever been in. Most of them had begun early to get the feeling they were a mostly-women group because of how they worked together - quickly, quietly, capably. I've never forgotten that story, and I see evidence of the same behavior pattern again and again in so many places.
@@hypatiakovalevskayasklodow9195yep I am in stem education and it's the story from year 0 girls try harder to do well but feel unempowered to take it further than GCSE, boys take chances and shout loudly. They end up getting the top jobs.
Tbh at my work we have women qualified to run their own store but they actually choose not to because of stress, work-life balance. They are not being held back by the company itself. They just don't care to be in charge . I don't think this is the case higher up, but it has an effect when lower level workers don't move up- they cannot become those higher ups.
Also I am one of these people who has no interest in being a manager even if I am qualified.
I have literally printed out and taped to my workroom wall a newspaper article from 1886 titled “is a woman’s work worth nothing?” Which is taking EXACTLY how making it yourself “for free” meant value was not being placed on the hours that home dressmakers spent making their own clothes
They say it's too early to talk about equality and societal advancement until all chores that have to be done for society to keep going are not monetarily compensated
@@aygul386 Until they're - not - compensated..? Wouldn't that be going backwards? The whole point being that 'free' labour should be compensated because it's still doing something that saves someone else the time/trouble. That's why women are still fighting for paid childcare, even in the most 'equal' societies.
The labour has to be compensated first, then you can start talking about equality@@Fledhyris
"Rocking and rolling with some laudanum and some chaos" needs to be the next mug.
I support this proposal
I vote yes!
I want a T-shirt.
My next tattoo, heads yes, tails no
absoluuuutely…❤
Morgan calmly stitching away while Abbey rants about the patriarchy ruining the fashion industry is hilarious.
I was about to comment on this and then I saw this. I was cackling at Morgan.
When you've definitely heard this rant before 😂
I was waiting for her to... look up and say something... Very effective and symbolic❤❤
"This is normal. Just keep stitching..."
Every time I think about this topic, it's more and more clear to me that this myth that we're so much smarter/better off/advanced than women in the past in an eternally linear way actually props up The Patriarchy. It tells us that there's no more work to be done because we've "arrived", especially when compared to those stupid people in the past 😒
Yep. That's the narrative swallowed by the disturbing number of people (including women) who say "feminism isn't needed anymore". Sure, we've made some very hard-won progress... but the issues are NOT fully resolved.
And as the USA & Afghanistan have both been at pains to demonstrate recently, it's not an endless upwards trajectory, either - the price of freedom from oppression really is a certain level of eternal vigilance & human rights advocacy...
It’s like the male cast of a hallmark romance movie, you know they’re technically different people but you have to wonder why the casting director couldn’t have made choices that made them easier to tell apart at a glance.
I really appreciate your opening about how people look down on fashion for its femininity and vanity. I feel like I have this running conversation in my head where half the time I associate fashion with mean girls in my high school while also reminding myself that being interested in fashion is not a crime. It’s more a reflection of internalized misogyny, which is not easy to shake. ❤
Yes!
@@kristelfae5054It’s really nice to see that other people can relate to that feeling. ❤
We have also internalized that fashion is lead by the elite, which is demonstrably false. So those mean girls were probably able to our purchase the latest fashion which the poor kids can’t afford…but not actually innovating what was fashionable.
I had a hot minute of thinking about going to fashion school, but I let both external and internalized misogy stop me.
@@ruthspanos2532That’s a really interesting point. I grew up in a really wealthy town, so everyone was extremely well off. But like every town, you still had some mean girls as well as some nice people, or what you might call a theater kid or a weird kid. Lol. ❤ Fast fashion is trendy but cheap. But I can still imagine a poorer person not being able to buy fast fashion because they need their clothes to last and to be able to return items if needed. Fast fashion=1 wear and no returns.
I feel like the problem is rooted in the fact that multibillionaire corporations owns all the larger fashion houses now.
The only one left that is running itself, I think, is my all time favorite, Vivienne Westwood.
You could have stopped at the problem is rooted in...multibillionaire cooperations. 😏👍💙🇺🇸🕊
I mean mainstream ones not all tbh theres a lot of smaller fashion houses like simone rocha etc. I think its both tbh the capitalism of the industry and the fact that capitalism in the industry which can also be informed by a lot of other systems but yeah i think like most safe and profitable houses in the mainstream are like headed by a certain type of men's visions eg like balenciaga, louis vuitton etc so they wld choose a man w that vision, cuz its "safe" to them. Rather than see the vision itself they see like oh man w this vision what if we appoint them since rn its mostly done by corporate rather than the creative director.
And now she is dead it will become a hollow shell of itself, filled with male designers and executives.
Damn 😢
The unexpected Morgan cameo and Abby's flawless depiction of Benedict Cumberbund, Tailor sent me. 😂
I studied both art and fashion and it was painfully obvious back then how fucked up the industry is, in art school we had about 5/6 guys for a 30 kids class, yet most known artists are male, and in fashion school only 2 guys for 28 women.... somehow we disappear along the way
I went to a museum who dubbed the room with the womens fashion in it: " the hall of the unnamed dressmakers". it was a one season travelling exhibition, absurdity beautiful work. Tried to find it again and couldn't but I liked how they recognised the artistry behind the dresses displayed and wished there was more little nods like that. 21:56
@JM-wt4bf - A tear of joy escapes my eye.
@@MossyMozart
And a tear of sadness escapes mine, since women never get credit, live in the shadows for most if not all of human history, never get celebrated, respected or valued and gets all the brunt of injustices and abuses for millenias, yet society collapses in all areas of life without this undervalued work mule called women.
So my understanding after watching this vid, is that what the industry of dressmaking produced was not /caused/ by patriarchy but the industry of dressmaking came up through the system of the patriarchy. So the value of dressmaking (starting with the Mantua) was undervalued both as a profession and as a vehicle for revenue. In addition, the industry, once existing, in reponse to its origins and the system it was inside, was kept seperate both by the external and internal parties, as this is for women. It will be on its own. And then, the dressmaking trade, once so big it could not be ignored how valuable it was went under seige to be entered by men. And while women stayed in the industry, "successful" business were defined by recognition of the owner being a "captain of industry", that becoming more important than the quality of fashion or clothes coming out of the fashion house. This kept rolling into what is the modern couture world. Simultaneous to those outcomes in couture, machine inventions, in regards to the everyday person and their clothes reversed from go to a professional (a skilled tradesperson) and instead take this skill upon yourself using these new machines and mass paterns and make your own. And tie your worth to your ability to perform this task. And that worth is not only infused with your personal skill at the task, but to do simultaneously to your other duties.
And to this day women in clothing production are regaled to be labor and not vision.
And we have a pop history hyperfocus on the clothes being repressive. Not the systems.
Dang.
This.
We have evidence of a few women tailors in France though, even when it was banned ! In particular they often were allowed to keep the title when their tailor-husband passed, but we also have evidence of daughters learning with their parents and then establishing their own business and going through the process of being recognised as tailors.
It’s not common but they existed and this brings me joy.
{ I wish I knew just how my grandmother influenced my grandfather (a difficult, poor, angry, illiterate person) to purchase her sewing machine. The woman had 10 living children, most of whom were males who had to have shirts, and undergarments all the time. That sewing machine changed her life. She also sewed for her daughter, her husband, and herself. } (Loved Morgan's cameo.) This is such an important essay. I am sure that you are aware of the female basis that formed computer program and the math of NASA.
Singer was very very clever, what they would do was let poor people buy them in instalments over many years, so you would get entire family groups of sisters and sister-in-laws clubbing in to buy one machine which would get passed around between them. Men would be persuaded to let them as it was marketed to the husbands as better than putting money under the mattress.
I recently got a Singer 401 and found out that my grandmother was given one as a gift by my grandfather when my dad was young in the early 60s. She said it was her xmas present for the next 3 years.
EVERY time I point out to a male software developer that early computer programming languages have the same structure as knitting patterns, I get a chuckle of disbelief. But they do! For/next loops, arrays, Do/while, If block structures.
omg I had no idea. That language makes so much more sense now. I knit and have been trying to learn code and never saw this connection before! TY!@@gadgetgirl02
@@gadgetgirl02 I machine knit and have lots of punch cards, that look so much like the old computer punch cards.
That makes me so mad. We are really getting scammed left and right on this one. Fashion is frivolous and yet a multibillion dollar industry run by men???? It’s truly sick. Classic boy math.
Men have a huge monopoly on textile production too.😢
Boy math HAHA
It's my favourite thing when Morgan or Nicole turn up in random videos. Just so nonchalant, just there doing their thing while the chaos rages around.
And this is yet another reason why I started making my own clothes. Retail, mainstream fashion for women is made by men, for men. My standard example is how many "business" blouses require a safety pin to make them suitable for an office, because the neckline is too damned low.
ETA: regarding the whole home sewing thing -- I have a great-aunt who ran a dressmaking shops. So we started shop sewing and moved to home sewing later.
Abby, as always, your analysis and presentation is spot-on!
I used to work as a nurse in neonatal intensive care. Our uniform blouse was cut so low that one day I bent down to help a mother breastfeed, looked up and realised that the father of the baby was staring right down my shirt. It was cut with a collar, so it couldn't be pinned higher. A nurse shouldn't have to place a hand on her chest just to bend over as she does her job. Now we have scrub tops that are narrower at the hips than they are at the shoulders, which is... better, I guess?
@@gray_mara Have you come across Cherokee Scrubs? Amazing things. Genuinely as unisex as you can get. Tops have vents to flare over hips if you have them, trousers have elasticated waistbands so you can actually bend in them, they’re tapered towards the ankle so they stay up if you roll them up, cargo pockets, cut so the crotch isn’t round your knees… I could rave about these things for days. I’m currently doing a placement where they have the old fashioned style scrubs and the difference is huge, I have to have size large just to fit my bust & hips and feel so sloppy and unprofessional compared to my previous placement in the Cherokee scrubs. I wish people realised what they can do for healthcare staff morale just by providing thoughtfully designed scrubs… Anyhow… Thanks for attending my Ted talk…. 🤓
Same with button up shirts that have the buttons spaced so far apart that it gaps.
For the few cents 3 extra buttons and buttonholes cost, you could make a product that's actually fit for purpose.
What's so infuriating is that it's not for lack of a female or femme talent pool. The industry is absolutely dominated by women. The same is true for the makeup industry. The same is true for the medical field too. (Though much greater strides are being made there, there aren't enough women managing hospitals & running medical teams. A female surgeon general would be pretty amazing too.) Meanwhile, other industries with women making up 30% or less of the workforce see representation in mid-level management & C-suite executives at rates mirroring or higher than their overall participation. It's certainly not that women can't do the job... it's that they're not even being given the chance to do it in industries commonly considered to be "female domain" & yet... in the industries dominated by men... they more often than not, have leadership roles.
I’d cry if I saw a female surgeon general before i died. The amount of women in the field I know would too. It’s crazy how much issues we still have. They’re willing to hire us pretty much because no one wants to work there is the gist of it and unfortunately women have a reputation of working harder for less money, less recognition and more abuse so they’re perfect 😅. The amount of sexual, verbal and emotional abuse allowed in those spaces from patients, males and each other are really problematic. The field thrives off of being able to pay them less. My husband and I went to school for the same amount of time but one field in medicine is more predominantly male vs female. The male one is paid higher. Once I transitioned to a man and started passing I started getting offered higher wages than usual. It’s shit.
@@grandmasgopnik9642 We've had three female surgeons general - Antonia Novella under Reagan, Jocelyn Elder under Clinton and Regina Benjamin under Obama.
I think the only way to fix this issue is to stop purchasing from companies that do stuff like this, and start purchasing from places that treat women with respect.
If you can afford to. That can be another trap.
@@julietfischer5056 well, since we are speaking of haute couture, I was assuming that one can afford switching from a $400 Gucci product to a $300 (probably better quality) item from, say Emmy Design or Son de Flor. You’re right, that for the rest of us (I certainly can’t afford either of those unless I save up for one piece at a time), it is harder. That’s why I’ve chosen to make more of my own clothes.
Because every dollar you spend is a vote ...... Be it sexist fashion or homophobic chicken sandwich companies.
@@thebookwyrmslair6757same here I just downloaded the pattern the other day and threw in a cup of coffee using the link on the page, I have the one done by Abby have not opened the pattern yet thought something simple first lol specially as I’m losing weight at the moment 😳 Dr put me on the ozempic injections to speed it up as I have to have surgery once I’m down to 100kg or below I had been losing weight but it suddenly stopped once I hire 125kg and I keep going up to 130 down to 125 been bouncing between that for the past 2 years 😼😼trouble is for 3 days after the injection I don’t eat not hungry at all then on the 4th day I’m peckish so have a salad for the next 2 days then nothing but oatmeal or baked fish for 2 days actually had 3 potato slices in batter yesterday but that’s because I had been driving for 6 hours and was finally hungry 😹😹😹 I drink a lot of coffee or so I thought I did but just worked it out nope I only have 4 cups a day (300ml)
I never ate much before the injections now I’m eating even less oh well losing weight be nice to have a new knee next year and the hernia fixed😹😹
A twin story of Women in computing. Women dominated computing right up into the 1970s... And then we're pushed out once it was released oh hey this isn't just repetitive work, you can make money and power with these machines.
Another problematic thing is that Kering (formerly Pinault-Printemps-La Redoute) made an estimated 4 574.2 million in 2020 and they also own Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Boucheron, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Puma, Brioni, Girard-Perregaux , JeanRichard, Qeelin, Pomellato, Dodo, Ulysse Nardin, Lindberg, Maui Jim, Creed and Valentino (that's just the luxury fashion brands). François Pinault is the 3rd fortune in France. He has admitted to Kering practicing tax evasion (stashing his cash in Switzerland). He also owns many major media outlets in France, as well as investing in football clubs. And obviously, delocalizing jobs to developing countries. Buy local, make your own, reuse and recycle. Don't feed the transnationals.
As someone from Louisville, KY, I was delighted by the map at 16:44. It's also worth noting that Louisville had a thriving free Black community before the Civil War, which makes me wonder how many of those businesses were Black-owned. Fascinating!
Omg I was so triggered by : "running a house and raising kids isn't a full time job" thank you for saying it like that 🙏 I just lost my daycare service and some people DARE say : "but you work from home can't you just do it with your kid there?" 😡 I meeeeean 🤯
Running a house is a noble and honest profession
@@sarahblack9333 so true, I feel it dosen't always get the credit it deserves 🫶
You hit it out of the ballpark with this one. It makes me angry how disrespected fashion is, and at the same time it makes millions, as long as the one making the millions are men.
I do not believe for a minute that those are all different dudes. Just one guy with varying facial hair.
AI results for “edgy gen x bro”
Maybe they've been generated by AI
The idea that the patriarchy has always existed as it exists now is to make us believe it will also continue on, stable and unchangeable forever.
I wonder where we can find evidence of matriarchal or more egalitarian societies of the past. I remember seeing art depicting it, don't know how to find it again tho. I know one side of my family used to be matriarchal, but due to patriarchal brainwash that evidence is difficult to attain lol. It is odd how little evidence of life outside patriarchy exists for public access, makes one wonder what was in some libraries that got destroyed
‘These are all different people’ literally sent me bc I can not tell them apart 😂
Your question on whether any men's garments are draped got me wondering. When I took draping in college, we draped on "female" mannequins. I just looked in my textbook to see if there are any "male" garments. Even pants are shown on a "feminine" figure.
There is no reason you can't drape men's clothes.
I always saw being able to sew yourself as empowering, and even though I'm very aware of women/mothers (and daughters to some extent) having to do unpaid labour at home, i never put them together like that. I kinda assumed home-sewing came from craftiness or ways of saving money. But then again, since sewing was/is labeled as a skill for fems, I'm not surprised there was even more patriarchy and capitalism below the surface.
I love your videos that combine fashion history and ethics. They're all so well done and thought out❤
In a lot of industries that have just grown too big and greedy, there is a sort of renaissance of the small maker coming back (smaller farms, apprenticed jobs, cottage crafts, etc. pop to mind...I know there's more). Let's hope that the mantua makers reinvent themselves and start smaller houses that they can keep control of.
I think it would take 2 things; one a general change in fashion to a more tailored look that, for it to look quite right, would require being sewn for you- and perhaps a desire for more individual unique touches to clothes. And second, affordability- ATM dressmaking is only for the rich often with the understanding that designs are original one offs and of premium quality materials. For normal people to be able to afford it is a bit of challenge. While there are ways to save on design and materials, labor will cost if you want to pay a decent wage. The only solution to that is enough of a sizable demand.
The government is trying to erode food freedom, re: Amos Miller.
I’m an alterations seamstress. I work in a dry cleaners in a wealthy town. This video honestly made me look at my own work differently, because the anonymity of women absolutely hasn’t gone away. I know the brand on the label but I have no idea who made the clothes I work on, and most of my customers don’t know my name either. And then too there’s the aspect that plenty of my customers are coming in not just for minor fit issues but because they have their own vision of how they basically want me to re-design a garment. I doubt those women are even thinking about giving themselves or me credit for contributing to the design of the finished piece, only the original designer who is probably a man.
As a busy professional and wife, I consider it a luxury when I have the time and energy to make my own garments. Even relatively simple pieces take considerable thought and effort so that they turn out well-made and well-fitted. It's disappointing that women working in the fashion industry are not better represented, credited, or paid for doing what most people don't even know how to do in modern society. And don't get me started on the mass-production sweatshops that take advantage of workers and fuel the piles of discarded clothing in landfills.
Love your passion and watching Morgan just do her thing while you educate us
NICE. Yes! There's also something to be said about the designer vs. fabricator dichotomy, where you have the male designer or creative director overseeing predominately femme workrooms using materials produced from predominately femme shops. It's why I started looking less at who is the costume designer of a piece of media and more at who was working under them. (And thanks to social media some of these shops are getting more kudos for their skill.)
Oooh! A rogue Morgan in the skit! Also, thank you for covering Elizabeth Keckley's story. She should be better known, definitely. I also want to copy the purple velvet transformation gown that she made for Mary Todd Lincoln some day ...
That was one gorgeous gown.
I'm from the generation of women who made their own clothes. Now even that has been taken from us. Even if you have the skills, and many (most?) young women don't, the cost of fabric makes it an expensive exercise.
We're reduced to wearing mass made, synthetic crap, made by underpaid labour.
Fantastic video, thank you.
I've been looking forward to you doing a deep dive into Mantua making since you mentioned it in one of your videos! I was definitely guilty of thinking that making fashionable clothes was always the purview of men. The fact that women’s role in dressmaking has been largely glossed over has no doubt lead to greater acceptance and expection of men having the top jobs in fashion now. You are rocking that 80’s look with that lipstick and shirt btw!
I teach mostly women to knit sweaters to the body. It's basically draping but with yarn and knitting needles.
I'm so happy you made this video! The rise of fashion/history youtubers has had me wondering how it is that fashion was previously dominated by women, but now men are the heads of many big-name brands.
Is even more confusing when you go to any fashion college and there are a lot more girls than boys. My college has literally a max of 2 boys entering each year
The “Im Just Ken” song break made me ugly cackle so loud I scared my dogs 😂 thank you for that. In general, Im loving the sober/drunk history scenes. Please carry on lol
One of the on-screen comments was "Mojo dojo casa atelier" and that made me snort-laugh.
I used to think "wide crinolins, super unpractical, must be to please men." I have since learned that wide crinolins can be unwhieldy... but they also keep people away from you. it's literally about taking up/claming space. same for corsets. I thought they must be so restricting and all that. but they are just some armour you wear underneath and a solid base structure to literally build your outfit on. I mean... a corset fortified waist is some kind of.. tool belt you can just strap lots of usefull things to (skirts to keep you warm, pockets). you couldn't do that with your bare body. that would hurt...
weird, puffy, big, fishbone fortified sleeves?.. keep men from touching your arm. ok. looking at it this way round there are some patriachaichal reasons for why the women made their clothes the way they did. but not all of them. and not in the way one would originally think.'
I've learned a lot so far. I expect to learn even more in the future.
Yeah but unfortunately those garments created more damage than the supposely little good it brought. How about men just learn to respect and stop being perverts and we as society have super super strong serious strict laws about this unacceptable behavior instead of changing women's bodies and clothes to accomodate to stop men's perverted predatory behaviors. Corset damaged organs, bones, body shape and quality of life. Crenolins got stuck in door ways and the skirts got set on fire many times setting the whole woman's body on rapid escalating fire, since the skirts were so huge it brushed against fireplaces and machinery, many women ended up in horrible pain, disfigured, damaged with life changing tragedies.
If anyone would like more info on Elizabeth Keckly, the podcast The History Chicks, has an excellent, if older, episode on her. The Exploress talks about her in her first season about women, and women's roles, in the Civil War. She was so incredible and did so much for her community in Washington, DC.
Thanks for the recommendation!
Thank you for sharing this! I AM interested in learning more about her!
I'll. have to check them out !
...and that, folks, is how you finesse the presentation of nuanced history, contextualisation of current events, and provide an accessible, affirmative, educational experience.
you are a big inspiration for me in how to do education.
also this topic was so damn important just in and of itself. this is a video I truly wish I had access to 5-20 years ago when I was teaching history. I needed this. you do superb work and it makes me glad inside
Laudanum and Chaos sounds like an awesome history book!
I would also say that the ways in which male milliners and mantua-makers were criticized in the late 18th and early 19th centuries very much speaks to how the patriarchy functioned. I such a social model did not function for all men, as any aspect of femininity was mocked. The largest detriment was of course to women, but even men suffered from the system, for those who were seen to transgress their sex through interest in what women reclaimed as a feminine domain experienced censure for being “effeminate”
It's interesting how most industries that are predominantly run by women and consumed by women are looked down upon and considered more or less ridiculous and silly. Romance novels come to mind. Now, don't get me wrong, romance (especially het romance) does have its problems, but the way it's generally reviled by non-romance readers has very little to do with those problems and very much to do with it being a feminine pursuit.
Many years (40+) ago I found a seamstress who excelled at tailoring. Since I was around 5' tall & a bit hippy, buying suits off the rack was impossible. I still remember the feeling of slipping on a tailor made suit and the disbelief of how well it fit! She was my go to until poor health forced her to retire.
This was wonderfully emotional and moving. I love these types of videos. Also, I love Morgan's quiet cameo. The solidarity is present.
That 80s look! 🤩 And it is beginning to make more sense: That was last time women said "whatever", and just wore the wierdest sh!t. Brb, am going to knit an oversized, abstractly patterned sweater, and I am going to add shoulder pads.
Fascinating. I knew some of the story of mantua makers but not to this detail. I particularly enjoyed your vitriol towards making clothing at home. I make some of my own clothing for...well reason, but it is not because I enjoy sewing. In fact, when I embarked on wanting to have clothes made specifically for me, I called and visited so many people. I could only find someone to make me a corset, someone to make me a wedding dress(no other clothes, only a wedding dress), or the shop would tailor something I already owned. No one would just sew me a dress or a blouse or a skirt. I would prefer to have a skilled individual make my clothing as I'm not that skilled and don't have that much time. Currently, this year, I have made one skirt and am far too proud of myself for the accomplishment. I have not been able to find a local mantua maker, something that would make my life much better. So, as I said, I appreciate the vitriol.
Be proud!! You’re allowed ❤️!
I'd say you're the exact right amount of proud. You made a thing! That's awesome!
I was already gonna tell you how much I enjoy you Drunk History style of reenactments.... and then you brought the Kenergy. 🧑🏻🍳💋
Loved this deep dive, thank you!! ❤ And I rather enjoy the recent trend of having friends next to you, working away, while you film as if they're not there 😏
9:02 That misogyny non-hair flip followed by the full fan slow-mo Blue Steel was devastating. My gay heart may never recover Abby, you'll always be Ken Ten to me! 🤣
As for draping in men's fashions, not in most western fashion that I know of.There are ethnic styles of dress that use draping today, though the tradition of masculine draping was almost killed in many places by the British colonizers who stigmatized the technique as being "too feminine". I recently read some articles about how in India there's a bit of a resurgence in wearing traditional draped men's clothing like the dhoti (a long rectangular cloth wrapped and folded and then brought up through the legs to make a pair of trousers) but with the modern convenience of being pre-stitched so they're always perfectly draped. The kurta (a long tunic) is also getting a drapey makeover with modern influencers showcasing kurta with dramatic asymmetrical draping in various styles that looks amazing.
Admittedly, I knew nothing about fashion houses, even though I knew a lot more about the historic dressmaking trade. This was interesting for someone who deliberately avoids knowledge about modern fashion as it gives me perspective on so many of the things I've had to correct that people misunderstand about historic dress. I kind of understand why now.
Also, that note at the end, that the clothes in our closets and the clothing that we have on right now are all made by people... never been so happy for a reminder of how many of those garments have been made by me, so thank you.
man what a fantastic video. thank you as well for featuring women's fashion houses. never heard of so many of them, and now i'm looking up all of their designs! you and the historical costuming community were a huge reason i got into sewing to begin with, and now i'm so excited to take some inspiration from these wonderful creative women
Men also dominate Women’s medicine(the money making part) I sometimes feel that the female world is going backwards. But I cheer on the Women making patterns, sewing clothing, opening up their online shops, selling their products and designs; and Historians like you Abby👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
Thanks, this was super informative (and sad - this thing about men taking away things from women when they get successful repeats across many different things, including sports, and it’s awful).
I got a chicken or the egg question: it seems that men working in leadership in women’s fashion coincided with men’s fashion becoming more uniform and boring. Did men move into women’s fashion because men’s fashion had become less ornate and labor-intensive, and so less lucrative? Or did men abandon men’s fashion for women’s fashion, leaving men’s fashion to languish?
I think it's both. I think there's kinda the whole vicious cycle thing going, no matter which started it
Dear Abby, thank you so much for this educational video!
You explained the topic in such an understandable way and I was able to learn a lot. The thought of "women-making-clothes-for-women" made me incredibly proud and it breaks my heart after your conclusion about today's haute couture brands.
I am always amazed at how little we understand in everyday life when there is no context or overview and with your video you have definitely filled that gap.
Finally someone willing to call our Alexander McQueen! They’ve had some great designs but the culture of the company and their backstory really gives me pause to not celebrate it.
1. Great job teaching fashion history
2. I, too, loved the Morgan cameo
3. Your historical personae are a stitch (pun sorta intentional)
4. Your "just you" narrator look has matured beautifully -- your hair, makeup, and color choices suit you so well. You're looking very ... at home in yourself it's the best way I can describe how I feel about this. I'm happy to see you looking so well.
Girl, I got chills when you were talking about Lizzy Keckley! What a badass!
You slayed this topic. Thanks for the context. Thanks for the snark and humour.humor. And thanks for the Morgan Donner cameo❤
This video is amazing. Thank you Abby! I have been sewing since I was 8 years old. I often wish it was my career. I worked for a few years in some museums and loved caring for historical garments. When doing research it was amazing to learn the number of women working as dressmakers, seamstresses and milliners even in the small towns I lived in. I never really fully understood how that transitioned into the devalued "free work" that is is today. Thank you for walking me through this portion of the history of women's fashion.
I like that your citations are on screen, I think the text is a little small. but I do watch on a small cell phone so that could just be a "me" problem.
Love your content ❤ I learned a lot here to do, always do. You're doing great work here!
This is a damn inspirational video. You blew my mind about the beginning of home-sewing patterns
These fashion history video essays absolutely S L A P! ❤ Every topic is addressed thoroughly with context in mind, and the reenactment scenes are hilarious!
I smiled, I frowned, I laughed, I cried... this was really good. Thank you Abby!!
Thank you two, and who ever else was behind the scenes
I love how you bring some fun into your videos, even when it's a very serious subject. Was also lovely to see a cameo from Morgan!
Thank you Abby for your passion and for teaching us. You are an inspiration!
This was great! I laughed, A LOT! Loved seeing Morgan Donner here; it is wonderful to see female TH-camrs support one another. Love to you, Abby, and to Morgan. Mwaa!
Love your long videos! But the amount of time and work! Thank you so much for all you do…. We all appreciate it ❤️
One thing that I think illustrates your whole video well. In French, couturier is the male form of couturière, a seamstress/dressmaker.
ABBY THIS IS SO GOOD OMG. Also, huge shout-out to anyone involved with the editing & video production /design. 11/10. No notes.
Loved it! As soon as I saw the thumbnail I said to myself, "I know this is going to be good." Thank you so much!
Absolutely lovely video as always. I deeply appreciate the look into the topic of how patriarchy and women's fashion have interacted with each other. (Also had a good laugh once I realized the two of you were just chilling atop the table. Great vibes.)
“Rocking and Rolling with Some Laudanum and Some Chaos” would be a great album name
Laudanum and chaos...it's the way we roll. LOL Thank you Abby and Nicole for the, as always, entertaining education. 🥰
Thank you so much for this video…for so many reasons! I connect with the mantua maker so much more than the tailor, always and I bought a shirt with Elizabeth Beckly on it in Philly last year without knowing her full story…& now i do. Thank you!
I absolutely love how passionate you are about this. Very inspiring and informative. Hugs
Best random click i ever did in my life great video abby
This is such a great video! I wanted to add that it made me think about the value of many of fashion's recent female muses, who were never paid or were paid pittances in comparison to their "professional" male counterparts. Reading Dana Thomas's "Gods and Kings," she talks about the outsized value of Amanda Harlech to John Galliano's early collections. Harlech left Galliano creatively when he balked at paying her a fair wage. All of the second in command women out there are just not getting the same upward mobility afforded to men, and it sucks to see!
Thank you so much for doing this! I just shared it. So informative !
I can't believe you did that in 29 minutes! A tour de force. I would love to see a longer series on the subject. Great work. Thanks.
Why I only buy second hand. I can't stomach supporting these houses.
ethics@@antoniocasias5545
Really interesting stuff. I so wish you could produce full-length documentaries about fashion history.
Abby, your content creativity is really a cut above. It’s so apparent in this video how much time, education, and care you use. Thanks for speaking on this topic!
Love these deep dives, thank you for educating us. And by the way, you look absolutely gorgeous today - love these colors on you!
"It was our great grandmothers just rocking and rolling with some latinum and some chaos." I'm dying! 😂
What you said at 1:43 is the same issue as with cooking. If it's household, everyday or larger-crowds cooking, it's for the women and deemed of no interest and mostly lame. If it's high cuisine, it's a matter for the men only, women have no place in the kitchen as chefs. And you see the same in medecine. Caring for the sick, dressing their wounds and lowering their fevers ? Women's job. Conducting surgeries ? Men's club. If it involves any kind of prestige, money, or authority, they jump on it and hurry to exclude women.
So good you are here sharing your knowledge and skills with us. Please continue!❤❤
Love this video.
I work in clothing alterations. I often rant about how little clothing actually fits anyone correctly and how little flatters a woman's figure. We need more women leading.