English edit

Etymology edit

mantua +‎ maker, from mantua, a loose gown worn in the 18th century.

Noun edit

mantuamaker (plural mantuamakers)

  1. A maker of women's clothes, especially dresses
    • 1836, American Anti-Slavery Society, The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Part 1 of 4[1]:
      Pity that hyper-fashionable mantuamakers and milliners were not a little quicker at taking hints from some of our Doctors of Divinity.