20+ Facts About Women Who Entered the Workplace in the 19th Century (Even Secretly)

Both commoners and nobles must have been very skilled in order to be able to take care of their family and home — one might even say that they mastered several professions. The acquired knowledge could be useful later on. However, while commoners could be officially employed, noblewomen chose to work only out of necessity or as a matter of principle, without telling anyone.

That is, women of the nobility worked in specific fields if they were not willing to be criticized and withdrawn from society and their families. For example, professions such as housekeeper, teacher and telegraph operator were considered relatively respected. But doing laundry, growing vegetables for sale, or selling street food meant women had no other choice. Discussing it was as embarrassing as confessing to a theft or begging.

However, manual labor was not easily accessible to women. In the big cities of the Russian Empire, there were special associations, the guilds, in which they were not welcome. Therefore, the professional choice was very restricted, and the occupations considered feminine were selling milk, fish, cakes and other foodstuffs, seamstress, embroiderer, etc.

In the 19th century, although male tailors predominated in the fashion industry, what they really did was take orders, communicate with customers, and control all processes—from cutting to sewing. But it was the women, “invisible” employees, who sewed the clothes. For the most part, they were single women who didn’t leave the house, devoting all their time to sewing, in exchange for a pittance.

At the same time, it was the married women, with children or widows, who did the mending of clothes, a business that also did not earn them much money.

It was humiliating for a noblewoman to be called a seamstress. There was a rule in high society: she could sew clothes to order, but calling her a seamstress was considered disrespectful. In conversation, it was permissible to mention that the woman did sewing, implying that she was open to further requests.

Another job that was invisible to commoners, but respectful, was that of a wet nurse. Blondes’ milk was considered healthier than redheads’, and that was the main criterion for choosing a candidate. In addition to her child, the mother who had just given birth could breastfeed other children as well. Often, a wet nurse was hired by noble ladies who refused to nurse their children. Working in an upper-class family, she could count on financial support and a pension for the rest of her life — that was the unspoken rule.