Tailors' Outdoor and Indoor Prices

[Gissing]

I have been looking at a tailors' agreement from the 19th century in which four tailors in a village agree not to undercut each other on price. They then list Outdoor Prices and Indoor Prices (a suit, for example, is 8 shillings outdoor and 11 or 12 shillings indoor). Does anyone know precisely what is meant by Outdoor and Indoor here? Could it be off-the-peg as against made-to-measure?

[wiltsman]

I wouldn't have thought that off-the-peg clothes would have been made in the 19th century. Surely clothes made then by a tailor would only have been made for a specific order.

[woofgang]

Could an outdoor suit be one for doing outdoor work in? So more simply and roughly made from cheaper fabric? An indoor suit would be bettermost wear.

[dotty.]

outdoor means that the tailor would visit the client in their own home for measuring an fitting, a privilege of the gentlemen classes and above, the lower classes, like a yeoman farmer or merchant would go to the shop to be measured and fitted, the lower classes to that would wear home made clothing.

[dotty.]

sorry wrong way round, outdoor means the tailor made home visits, indoor meant they measured and fitted in the shop.

[dotty.]

doh still the wrong way round! the more expensive is for measuring and fitting in the clients residence, the cheaper one is when the client visits the tailor in the shop. so, you have the more expensive as indoor, therefore indoor means the home visit.

[Gissing]

Thank you.

[New Judge]

Yes dotty is (finally!) correct.

The term still exists in the "Rag Trade" today. Machinists often undertake "outdoor" work where the tailor/dressmaker delivers cut garment components to her (or sometimes his - though male machinists are called "machiners") home and collects the completed garments. The machinists are paid at "piece" work rates - that is to say they are paid per garment.