Sewing Invisibilities

Gender, Work, and Prestige in the History of Fashion

Abstract

This article aims to investigate the gender differences present in the subjective interpretation embedded in the designations “costureiro” (male dressmaker) and “costureira” (female dressmaker), from a historical and sociocultural perspective of fashion. The analysis seeks to understand how these designations, although referring to similar functions in the act of making clothes, have historically carried distinct symbolic values, conferring different levels of prestige and recognition to men and women in the field of fashion. Supported by Pierre Bourdieu’s studies on distinction and the symbolic field, the work examines how authorship and the status of the “costureiro” were consolidated as categories of power and cultural capital, in contrast with the figure of the “costureira,” associated with manual labor and the domestic sphere. The historical trajectory, spanning from the emergence of haute couture in the 19th century to contemporary practices, shows how the process of aesthetic and social consecration in fashion was anchored in gender constructions and symbolic hierarchies. Thus, the article offers a critical reflection on the historical erasure of women who sustained sewing practices and on the mechanisms of legitimation that transformed “making” into “authorship” in the fashion field. It concludes that the differentiation between “costureiro” and “costureira” goes beyond mere terminology, revealing profound dynamics of power, authorship, and distinction.