A person who sells haberdashery, which includes small articles of clothing, sewing supplies, buttons, ribbons, and other notions.
From Middle English 'haberdashe,' possibly from Old French 'habertas' or 'auberage.' The origin is obscure, but it emerged in the 14th century for merchants selling small goods, with -er added to denote the tradesperson.
Medieval haberdashers were essential—in a time before mass production, they kept entire cities supplied with buttons, thread, and ribbons that people needed for making and mending clothes.
Haberdashers were historically overwhelmingly male guild tradespeople. The -er suffix defaulted masculine in occupational naming, though women worked in millinery and textiles alongside legal/guild invisibility.
Use 'haberdasher' for any gender worker, or specify 'milliner,' 'clothier,' or 'textile merchant' for clarity.
["clothier","milliner","textile merchant","notions seller"]
Women historically dominated millinery and textile design but were excluded from guild records; many goods marketed as male merchant inventions originated from female craftwork.
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