In my search for fabric-related quotes some time ago, I came across some others relating to fashion, sewing, and society. Here they are, collected for your entertainment
The Artful Husband (William Taverner, 1717):
The Fable of the Bees (Bernard de Mandeville, 1724):
I like this one because it’s such a universal – even today, you can see the same impulses driving changing trends.
Dictionarium Britannicum (1736):
CABBAGE, whatever is purloin’d by Taylors and Mantua-Women from the Rayment they are to make up. See a very ludicrous Account of it in the Tale of a Tub.
The Gentleman’s and London Magazine (1741):
Select Trials (1742):
Ann Jones. I know Mrs. Davis very well, she is a Mantua-maker, and lives near me by Bethlem-Wall, thro’ Great Moorgate. … I take in Clear-starching and Plain-work.
…
Lydia Walker. I live in the Walk which leads from Holy Well-Mount, to Hoxton, and take in Quilting.
Chapters XLIV and XLV of The London Tradesman (1747), on staymaking and mantua-making are worth reading in their entirety.
Mimic of Modes 