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Why did Georgian dresses cost as much as a townhouse?!

Why did Georgian dresses cost as much as a townhouse?!

Name: Why did Georgian dresses cost as much as a townhouse?!
Uploaded: 2025-06-03T08:50:24.423Z
Duration: 22 min 32 s
Description: Could you call a dress radical? The rise of the 18th-century mantua certainly marked a societal shift that went well beyond a fashion trend. As the popularity of this style grew, so too did the role of women in an industry previously dominated by men. Forget tailors – if you wanted to keep up with the Georgians, the mantua maker is where you’d go.

HistoryExtra’s Ellie Cawthorne met Professor Serena Dyer and her team of experts who are attempting to get up close and personal with the fine stitches of Georgian society by recreating a traditional mantua sacque dress – from scratch

Ellie Cawthorne

Published: June 3, 2025 at 10:50 AM

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Could you call a dress radical? The rise of the 18th-century mantua certainly marked a societal shift that went well beyond a fashion trend.

As the popularity of this style grew, so too did the role of women in an industry previously dominated by men. Forget tailors – if you wanted to keep up with the Georgians, the mantua maker is where you’d go.

To find out more about this generation of trend-setting women, HistoryExtra’s Ellie Cawthorne met Professor Serena Dyer and her team of experts who are attempting to get up close and personal with the fine stitches of Georgian society by recreating a traditional mantua sacque dress – from scratch.

Authors

Ellie CawthorneHead of content (audio)

Ellie Cawthorne is head of content (audio) at HistoryExtra