Draper

A draper was a person who sold cloth, mainly for making clothes. Drapers could also work as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. In the past, this job was very important because people needed to buy fabric to make their own clothes or to buy clothes that were already made. Drapers were often in markets and towns, helping people choose the right materials. Today, you don’t hear the word “draper” very often, but it still reminds us of the history of clothing and shopping.

History

Drapers were important traders in the medieval period. They sold cloth from special shops called drapers' shops. Today, we don't use the word "draper" as much as we used to.

In 1724, a writer named Jonathan Swift wrote funny papers pretending to be a draper. These papers were called the Drapier's Letters.

Historical drapers

Many well-known people once worked as drapers. Some of them are:

• Sir Thomas Adams, 1st Baronet (1586–1667/1668), Lord Mayor of the City of London
• William Barley (1565?–1614), bookseller and publisher
• Norman Birkett
• Margaret Bondfield (1873–1953), Britain's first female cabinet minister who, at the age of 14, began an apprenticeship at a draper's shop in Hove, near Brighton
• Thomas Burberry, founder of fashion brand "Burberry"
• Eleanor Coade (1733–1821), successful businesswoman with Coade stone, who ran her own business as a linen draper in the City of London
• John Graunt (1620–1674), founder of the science of demography, became a freeman of the Drapers' Company at the age of 21 and worked in his father's drapery shop until his father died in 1662
• Antonie van Leeuwenhoek
• John Spedan Lewis (1885–1963), founder of the John Lewis Partnership
• William McGregor (1846–1911), chairman of Aston Villa Football Club and founder of the Football League
• Anthony Munday (1560?–1633), playwright
• Hector MacDonald was a draper's apprentice until at 18 he joined the army.
• Harry S. Truman, haberdasher before he became a Senator, Vice President and President of the United States
• H. G. Wells and his fictional characters Kipps and Mr Polly were draper's assistants
• Edward Whalley, regicide, cousin of Oliver Cromwell
• George Williams, founder of the YMCA
• John Woodward (1665–1728), geologist and physician to King Charles II. At the age of 16 he went to London to be apprenticed to a linen draper.

Current usage

A draper is now a special job in the fashion industry. In a fashion design or costume design studio, a draper makes clothes by placing fabric over a dress form. This helps to put the cloth in the right position, instead of measuring on paper first.

A fashion draper might also be called a "first hand" because they are often the best worker in the studio. In a costume studio, a first hand usually helps the draper by cutting the fabric and helping with fittings.