3 Historical Romances with Seamstress Heroines
I’ve been noticing a trope in the historical romances I’ve picked up recently: the heroines are almost all seamstresses!
In Georgian and Regency England, ladies of good breeding didn’t work, but they certainly paid a lot of attention to what they wore. So it makes sense that some of our heroines would have an affinity for the design and assembly of dresses.
It makes for good conflict, too, because it was taboo for a lady to be involved in trade. If she actually wanted to be a dress designer or a seamstress, she had to do it in secret. That’s yummy plot development for a novel! Plus, men don’t understand why fashion matters, so suddenly the heroine’s passion is not only a secret, but it is a point of misunderstanding between her and the hero.
If that sounds like a good read to you, there are lots of books out there with this trope to fill your to-be-read list!
Here are three historical romance novels with seamstress heroines:
Born to be Wilde by Eloisa James
This is number three in the Wildes of Lindow Castle series. Lavinia has lived her life as a carefree beautiful heiress, only she just discovered that her mother has spent their fortune (and other people’s money, too) on opium. Her first solution is to propose to the dashing and rich Parth, whom she has always secretly admired. When he turns her down, she decides to earn her own fortune by serving as personal dresser to her cousin.
In the meantime, Parth tries to help Lavinia by setting her up with his friends, only to discover he is madly in love with her - and her passion for bonnets and lace - himself.
The Dangers of Deceiving a Viscount by Julia London
Phoebe Fairchild is a talented seamstress who has been secretly supporting herself by selling dresses to a London modiste. When the Viscount of Summerfield requests her alter-ego by name to come stay with his family in order to assemble a new wardrobe for his sisters, she is blackmailed into going - otherwise her reputation and a bill protecting working women will be in jeopardy.
It’s all going fine until she starts to fall in love with the viscount, who believes her to be a widow. Then she has to decide how much adventure is worth the risk.
(Content warning: this plays with the dynamic of a boss hitting on his servant…and I did not think William cared about Phoebe’s consent enough.)
Scandal in Satin by Loretta Chase
This is book two in the Dressmakers series, and technically, Sophy doesn’t spend much time seamstressing. Together with her sisters, she runs a modiste shop in London, and her main job is to drum up business. She does this by sneaking into balls and writing gossip reports that focus on the beautiful dresses from their shop. When their biggest client gets engaged to a good-for-nothing bankrupt man, Sophy decides to intervene, even if it means working with the client’s handsome and unbearable brother.
For his part, Longmore wants to protect his sister from a terrible marriage, and he really doesn’t mind spending more time with Sophy as a result of it.