Description:
A Treatise on Cutting Garments...Published by James Wilson and Genio C. Scott. Wilson received a patent in 1827 for inventing the Square Rule System of measuring a male figure for tailored clothes. He and Scott were leaders in attempts to standardize the art and mystery of tailoring into a set of scientific principles and “simple” steps that anyone could follow. Standardization of men’s clothing began on a large scale in the first half of the 19th century with attempts fostered by Wilson, Scott and other merchant tailors in New York City. The loss of control of the trade by traditional tailors would come to impact entire men’s fashion story, including western Massachusetts. Wilson also patented a tailor's measure on February 28, 1827, and another on May 3, 1833. See also Genio C. Scott large fashion engraving from 1853 (2004.5).
Label Text:
James Wilson received patents in 1827 and 1833 for tools that took proportional measurements of the body to create talored clothing faster and cheaper than previous direct-measure methods. He and his co-author Genio C. Scott were among the earliest innovators who attemped to standardize the art and mystery of tailoring into a set of scientific principles and "simple" steps that (supposedly) anyone could follow. Wilson and Scott's published work, a hybrid system of both direct and proportional measurement, contributed to a more relaxed look in menswear that did not require the exacting fit of previously exclusive, made-to-measure garments.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2014.1 |
