A Separate Sphere: Dressmakers in Cincinnati’s Golden Age, 1877-1922

Dressmaking, considered a natural extension of women€™s proper work in the home, was a common and lucrative employment for women in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It afforded creative expression, prestige in the community, and even the possibility of financial independence. Yet as entrepreneurs, dressmakers faced unique business pressures, and with the advent of department stores and widespread mass production of women€™s clothing, most were forced out of business. Coinciding with the exhibition Cynthia Amnéus organized for the Cincinnati Art Museum, this work examines the nineteenth-century ideology of women€™s separate sphere, the early feminist movement, women in the workplace, and dressmakers as artisans and professionals. More than 140 stunning custom-made garments, historical photographs, and dressmakers€™ labels document the superb artistic and technical skill of the women who produced fashionable dress in Cincinnati from 1877 to 1922. Brac