ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the range of goods made by tailors, the tools that were used, and the involvement of the Company in the regulation of apprenticeship and other working practices. Until 1503, the craft was still officially known as the ‘mistery of Tailors and Linen-Armourers’, even though ‘citizen and tailor’ had become a convenient designation for most members. While linen-armourers and tent-makers had a particular resonance for the Company, it is important to bear in mind that the work of a tailor encompassed a wide range of activities in the garment trade. A number of sources suggest that some members of the Company specialized in the manufacture of particular garments such as doublets, ‘paltocks’ and other items of upper body clothing: in 1378 John Tilneye was described as a ‘paltock maker’ two years before he was chosen to represent the Tailors and Linen-Armourers on the Common Council.
