Handmade, from yesterday’s handcrafted to today’s handcrafted

Until 1850, the clothes were made by hand. Court dress, body linen…: tailors and workers make and embroider all the clothes. In the mid-19 ^th century, the sewing machine upsets fashion. She makes life easier for tailors and seamstresses, then enters homes.

In 2011, the temporary Handmade exhibition at the Fashion & Lace Museum of the City of Brussels presented visitors with period clothing. She traced the evolution of handmade through her collections.

The sewing machine would never have been designed if the art of hand sewing had not existed. You would think that the handmade disappeared when the sewing machine was released. But no. Despite the appearance of the sewing machine, the “handmade” has not disappeared. He survived and adapted to the constraints of each era.

Today, the generation of thirties is particularly fond of homemade. Some young people make and make their own clothes and accessories. Often in reaction to mass production which they consider to be of lower quality. Some even disseminate their crafts and practices through blogs, forums and websites.

The temporary Handmade exhibition plunged the visitor into the heart of the history of handmade and presented him with some magnificent pieces from the Museum’s collections.