Vintage Finds: The New Century Ladies’ Tailor System

Exciting find today at one of my local vintage shops! This unassuming red folder had a hidden treasure in it from 1899.

The New Century Ladies’ Tailor System does not appear to be found anywhere on the internet, but is similar to a number of other tailoring systems designed to help ladies draft their own patterns without the extensive training of an actual tailor. Based on your own measurements, you plot out pattern components and use the templates to trace the shapes of certain areas. This system has a number of slits and fasteners which allow the templates to be adjusted for different sizes and proportions.

There are stickers on both the folder and one of the templates for an address in Winnipeg. One has a price on it – $15, which would have been about the cost of a new suit.

Also included with the system is a magazine style booklet: Dressmaker’s Journal Vol.1, No.1.

The cover depicts an arch from the Greater America Exposition in Omaha 1899. The company that produced this publication (J. R. Van Dame & Co.) invented the system and took part in the Exposition, receiving the ‘highest award and gold medal’ there. Having offices in both Michigan and in Toronto, it seams they had schools set up in several cities in the United States, but also had a network of agents selling the system on commission to schools, dressmakers and households across North Amercia.

The magazine includes patterns for some men’s clothing and some ladies’ wear both straight drafting and with the system. It also suggests useful tips for special sewing issues…

The system and magazine are in great shape considering they are over 100 years old, and I’d love to try my hand at an edwardian jacket or a shirtwaist based on this amazing find. I’ll keep you posted!

~Heather