Ellen Louise Demorest
Ellen Louise Demorest (1824-1898) was born in Schuylerville, New York,
and died in New York, New York. In 1842, Demorest set up a millinery shop in Saratoga
Springs, New York. After a year, she moved her business to Troy, New York, before
relocating again to Brooklyn, New York. She married William J. Demorest, a dry-goods
merchant, in New York in 1858. During a brief residence in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
Demorest conceived the idea of mass-produced accurate paper patterns for home
dressmaking. The family returned to New York in 1860, where they opened Madame
Demorest's Emporium of Fashions and began publishing the quarterly Mme.
Demorest's Mirror of Fashions. The success of the magazine led to its becoming
the expanded Demorest's Illustrated Monthly Magazine and Mme. Demorest's Mirror of Fashions in 1864. While her husband
established a mail-order operation to deal in sewing aids and other merchandise,
Demorest developed a cheap hoop skirt and a new line of corsets, cosmetics, and other
products. She supported her husband in his reform work, especially the temperance
crusade, and interested herself in projects for the betterment of opportunities for
women. An ardent abolitionist and women's rights advocate, Demorest employed both black
and white women on equal terms in her enterprises. She was active in the management of
the New York Medical College for Women and the Welcome Lodging House for Women and
Children. She was a founding member of Sorosis, the first professional women's club in
the United States. In 1876, the year of their height in popularity, the Demorests'
company distributed and sold over 3 million patterns, distributing them from offices in
Europe, Canada and Cuba. In the 1880s the business declined, in large part because of
the Demorests' failure to patent their paper pattern idea, and they sold the pattern
business in 1887. As sewing machines became common in middle-class homes, Demorest's
dressmaking patterns made French aristocratic styles accessible to more women, thus
greatly influencing US fashion.
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Ellen Louise Demorest
Ellen Louise Demorest (1824-1898) was born in Schuylerville, New York,
and died in New York, New York. In 1842, Demorest set up a millinery shop in Saratoga
Springs, New York. After a year, she moved her business to Troy, New York, before
relocating again to Brooklyn, New York. She married William J. Demorest, a dry-goods
merchant, in New York in 1858. During a brief residence in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
Demorest conceived the idea of mass-produced accurate paper patterns for home
dressmaking. The family returned to New York in 1860, where they opened Madame
Demorest's Emporium of Fashions and began publishing the quarterly Mme.
Demorest's Mirror of Fashions. The success of the magazine led to its becoming
the expanded Demorest's Illustrated Monthly Magazine and Mme. Demorest's Mirror of Fashions in 1864. While her husband
established a mail-order operation to deal in sewing aids and other merchandise,
Demorest developed a cheap hoop skirt and a new line of corsets, cosmetics, and other
products. She supported her husband in his reform work, especially the temperance
crusade, and interested herself in projects for the betterment of opportunities for
women. An ardent abolitionist and women's rights advocate, Demorest employed both black
and white women on equal terms in her enterprises. She was active in the management of
the New York Medical College for Women and the Welcome Lodging House for Women and
Children. She was a founding member of Sorosis, the first professional women's club in
the United States. In 1876, the year of their height in popularity, the Demorests'
company distributed and sold over 3 million patterns, distributing them from offices in
Europe, Canada and Cuba. In the 1880s the business declined, in large part because of
the Demorests' failure to patent their paper pattern idea, and they sold the pattern
business in 1887. As sewing machines became common in middle-class homes, Demorest's
dressmaking patterns made French aristocratic styles accessible to more women, thus
greatly influencing US fashion.
See more letters.