Oh this may be what I was thinking of.
“Materials Are Expensive, Labor Less So
Okay, so say you live in Bratislava in 1500, and you want a new dress. It’s going to cost you X whatever-currency-they-used to buy your fabric, needle, pins, etc. Let’s say it costs you 10 bratislavs (I made that up). You CAN pay a dressmaker to actually sew the dress, or make one of your servants do it for you (which you are essentially then paying them for, because that’s time they could be spent churning your butter or whatever), which will then cost you another (say) 5 bratislavs. But you can also do it yourself, which means it’s your own time not spent butter churning, sure, but you’re getting a pretty dress. So 99.9% of humanity HAS to buy their materials, but they CAN do the labor themselves if they want to/can spare the time, therefore saving money.
People in the past knew the value of money.
So when you look at historical clothing, you’ll see lots of bells and whistles added to clothing, like the medieval tie-on sleeves seen above, because it “costs” time rather than materials. Or, in the mid-18th century, they LURVED them some ruffles-as-trim, each of which had to be cut, gathered/pleated, and attached:
All that fiddly trim had to be hand cut, gathered, and sewn on!
Dress (sack-back gown), ca. 1760, British, Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Or hand-knotted/fringed cords (called “fly fringe” modernly):
Hand-knotted trim on a Robe à la Française, 1740s, British, Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Given our truism #1 (historical people weren’t stupid), and truism #2 (materials are expensive, labor less so), they were able to understand that materials were a fixed cost, but they COULD save money via labor — either doing it themselves, or downgrading how complex the garment would be.”
“You Only Bothered to Spend Extra Time on Something That Made a Visual Impact or Had a Function
Miles of trim? Oooo pretty! Front- AND back-laced stays? Yay, I can get in and out of my corset in front all by myself AND adjust the fit of the stays in back*! The ability to open and remove a garment in BOTH front AND back? Why the f**k would I want to do that, unless I think it’s visually fabulous and going to make all the girls cry when I go to court/the town well to do laundry?
* Note: This is the main exception that I can think of (there are probably a few others) to my rule about either front OR back closures. Front AND back opening stays exist pre-1840s, but they’re far less usual than corsets that only open in front OR back. Having your corset lace in back allows you to adjust the fit plus it leaves a gap, which makes the stays more comfortable as there’s movement allowed. But having the stays lace in front means you can put them on and off yourself. So, occasionally, people combined the two. Once metal busks were invented in the mid-19th century, it became very common to have your corset lace in back (adjustable fit! movement gap!) and close with a busk in front.”
http://www.frockflicks.com/sna.....g-bonanza/
