Interior of a Tailor's Shop

This painting by an unknown artist illustrates the interior of a typical London tailor's workshop in the second half of the eighteenth century. Young apprentices and older journeymen are sitting cross-legged on a bench, drinking from mugs as they sew. It was common to drink alcohol at work in certain trades during this period. The smartly dressed man seen handing one of the apprentices a piece of cloth is probably the master tailor. Master tailors would usually own a shop which sold bespoke garments made in their workshop. All clothing was hand made at this time.

Employment in the tailoring trade could be precarious and tended to be seasonal. Working hours were long. The workforce was divided between 'flints' who were paid by the day and 'dungs' who were paid for each piece of clothing they made. London's tailors were the first group of workers to form a trade union and they established a strong, militant industrial organisation. Their wages increased during this period, partly as a result of journeymen tailors regulating their own workforce along gender lines. Workshops like the one in this painting were predominantly male environments where men's clothing was manufactured. Men resisted female employment in workshops to prevent employers hiring women and children at lower rates of pay. Male tailors did not usually make dresses and shirts as this work was typically done by women in the home.