# Draper > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Draper > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Draper.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draper > Source revision: 1353655670 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|Cloth merchant}} {{Other uses}} {{Redirect|Drapers|the magazine|Drapers (magazine)}} {{More citations needed|date=December 2019}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} [[File:Adriaen Bloem - In the Draper´s Shop - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|''In the Draper's Shop'' by [Adriaen van Bloemen](/source/Adriaen_van_Bloemen)]] '''Draper''' was originally a term for a retailer or wholesaler of cloth that was mainly for clothing. A draper may additionally operate as a [cloth merchant](/source/cloth_merchant) or a [haberdasher](/source/haberdasher). ==History== Drapers were an important [trade guild](/source/guild) during the [medieval period](/source/medieval_period), when the sellers of cloth operated out of drapers' shops. However the original meaning of the term has now largely fallen out of use. In 1724, [Jonathan Swift](/source/Jonathan_Swift) wrote a series of [satirical](/source/Satire) pamphlets in the guise of a draper called the ''[Drapier's Letters](/source/Drapier's_Letters)''. ==Historical drapers== [[File:Museum of Lincolnshire Life, Lincoln, England - DSCF1759.JPG|thumb|A replica draper's shop at the [Museum of Lincolnshire Life](/source/Museum_of_Lincolnshire_Life), Lincoln, England]] A number of notable people who have at one time or another worked as drapers include: * [Sir Thomas Adams, 1st Baronet](/source/Sir_Thomas_Adams%2C_1st_Baronet) (1586–1667/1668), Lord Mayor of the City of London * [William Barley](/source/William_Barley) (1565?–1614), bookseller and publisher * [Norman Birkett](/source/Norman_Birkett%2C_1st_Baron_Birkett) * [Margaret Bondfield](/source/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](/source/Hove), near [Brighton](/source/Brighton){{cite web|title= Hove blue plaque call for 1920s MP Margaret Bondfield|url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-27654880|publisher= BBC News Sussex|date= June 1, 2014|access-date= September 5, 2014|archive-date= June 22, 2022|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220622093153/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-27654880|url-status= live}} * [Thomas Burberry](/source/Thomas_Burberry), founder of fashion brand "[Burberry](/source/Burberry)" * [Eleanor Coade](/source/Eleanor_Coade) (1733–1821), successful businesswoman with [Coade stone](/source/Coade_stone), who ran her own business as a linen draper in the City of London{{cite web |last1=Phillips |first1=Nicola |title=Eleanor Coade |url=http://www2.addidi.com/awards/2009/profile_ec.asp |website=Addidi Inspiration Award |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425124239/http://www2.addidi.com/awards/2009/profile_ec.asp |archive-date=April 25, 2012 |date=May 2009 |url-status=dead}} * [John Graunt](/source/John_Graunt) (1620–1674), founder of the science of [demography](/source/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](/source/Antonie_van_Leeuwenhoek) * [John Spedan Lewis](/source/John_Spedan_Lewis) (1885–1963), founder of the [John Lewis Partnership](/source/John_Lewis_Partnership) * [William McGregor](/source/William_McGregor_(football)) (1846–1911), chairman of [Aston Villa Football Club](/source/Aston_Villa_Football_Club) and founder of the [Football League](/source/Football_League) * [Anthony Munday](/source/Anthony_Munday) (1560?–1633), playwright * [Hector MacDonald](/source/Hector_MacDonald), was a draper's apprentice until at 18 he joined the army. * [Harry S. Truman](/source/Harry_S._Truman), [haberdasher](/source/haberdasher) before he became a Senator, Vice President and President of the United States * [H. G. Wells](/source/H._G._Wells) and his fictional characters [Kipps](/source/Kipps) and [Mr Polly](/source/The_History_of_Mr_Polly) were draper's assistants * [Edward Whalley](/source/Edward_Whalley), regicide, cousin of [Oliver Cromwell](/source/Oliver_Cromwell) * [George Williams](/source/George_Williams_(YMCA)), founder of the [YMCA](/source/YMCA){{cite web |url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/360/ |title=My Dear Home, I Love You, You're a House for Each of Us and Home for All of Us |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029201308/http://www.wdl.org/en/item/360/ |archive-date=October 29, 2013 |url-status=dead |website=[World Digital Library](/source/World_Digital_Library) |date=1918 |access-date=October 26, 2013 }} * [John Woodward](/source/John_Woodward_(naturalist)) (1665–1728), geologist and physician to King [Charles II](/source/Charles_II_of_England). At the age of 16 he went to London to be apprenticed to a linen draper. ==Current usage== A draper is now defined as a highly skilled role within the [fashion industry](/source/fashion_industry). The term is used within a [fashion design](/source/fashion_design) or [costume design](/source/costume_design) studio for people tasked with creating garments or patterns by draping fabric over a [dress form](/source/dress_form); draping uses a human form to physically position the cloth into a desired pattern. This is an alternative method to drafting, when the garment is initially worked out from measurements on paper. A fashion draper may also be known as a "first hand" because they are often the most skilled creator in the workshop and the "first" to work with the cloth for a garment. However a first hand in a costume studio is often an assistant to the draper. They are responsible for cutting the fabric with the patterns and assisting in costume fittings. ==See also== *[Draper](/source/Draper_(surname)) – a surname taken from the occupation *[Don Draper](/source/Don_Draper), fictional star of the series ''[Mad Men](/source/Mad_Men)'' *[Drapery](/source/Drapery) *[Kraków Cloth Hall](/source/Krak%C3%B3w_Cloth_Hall) – Renaissance landmark of Kraków, Poland *[Millinery](/source/Millinery) *[Worshipful Company of Drapers](/source/Worshipful_Company_of_Drapers), the London guild ==References== {{Reflist|1=|refs= {{cite book | last=Toplis | first=Alison | title=The Clothing Trade in Provincial England, 1800-1850 | publisher=Routledge | date=2015 | isbn=978-1-317-32305-1 | page=85}} {{cite journal |last1=Wynne |first1=Deborah |title=The ‘Despised Trade’ in Textiles: H. G. Wells, William Paine, Charles Cavers and the Male Draper’s Life, 1870–1914 |journal=Textile History |date=May 2015 |volume=46 |issue=1 |pages=99–113 |doi=10.1179/0040496915Z.00000000059 |doi-access=free}} }} ==Further reading== *{{cite web |last1=Hansen |first1=Viveka |title=The Clothing and Fabric Trade in London from 1780 to 1914 |url=https://www.ikfoundation.org/itextilis/the-clothing-and-fabric-trade.html |website=The IK Foundation |date=December 12, 2017}} {{sewing}} Category:Drapers Category:Sales occupations Category:Clothing industry --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Draper](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draper) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draper?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.