Dress Fitting: Basic Principles and Practice

The techniques Natalie Bray pioneered and perfected revolutionised dress pattern designing, assisting the rise of the modern fashion industry. Her teaching has had a profound influence on design, production and education and her works are classics: fashions change but the principles of designing patterns in the flat do not. To be able to understand what is happening when observing a defect is already to have an idea of how to correct it. Here problems of figure, posture and of pattern adjustment are clearly explained so that the dressmaker can, with the confidence that comes with practical experience, learn to identify a defect and choose the best method of dealing with it.

Preliminary modelling exercises; The fitting of a bodice; The fitting of sleeves; Neckline and collar fitting; The fitting of skirts and slacks; The problems of the one–piece dress; Kimono, raglan, drop–shoulder fitting; Pattern adaptation to individual measurements

Natalie Bray trained in Paris while connected with a Court dressmaking business in London. The techniques she pioneered and perfected revolutionised dress pattern designing. Her teaching has had a profound influence on design, production and education. Ann Haggar, who wrote the Fashion Supplement, has many years’ experience both in industry and in education, and combines her writing with teaching at St Martin’s School of Art and with couture.