Is it true?

[supapapa]

Is it true that prostitutes are sometimes described as dressmakers?

[dotty.]

no idea.

[Buenchico]

A bit of Googling brings up plenty of discussion on the subject, including this well-argued thread:
http://www.british-ge...ndex.php/t-14150.html

However this thread cites a specific source (the philanthropist Charles Booth), possibly adding some verisimilitude to the theory:
"According to Charles Booth, in almost all cases prostitution was not seen as a permanent way of life. To some it was a temporary or occasional employment, as Booth described it for East End tailoresses or dressmakers 'who return to their trade in busy times'. Though disease and mortality would overtake the unfortunate, it was a less hazardous profession than many of its alternatives."
http://www.rootschat....92299.msg1749271.html

Chris

[craft1948]

Well in my research I think some were as they seemed to have a few children out of wedlock........however that's not to say all dressmakers were prostitutes :-)

[ladyalex]

Terry Pratchett fans will know that his Seamstresses were 'ladies of negotiable affection'.

[radiogaga]

apparently thats where the term HOOKERS came from, as the ladies would ues crochet hooks whilst dressmaking. (according to my mum)

[DTCwordfan]

and I thought that the man in the middle of a front row of a rugby scrum was a crossdresser - DAMN