November 19, 2010, 18:03
Kallehdrapery
I have only seen the word
drapery to mean long, flowing curtains. However, I saw an Irish store today with a sign for Goods and Drapery (or something similar). I found that drapery is a broader word than I had thought, meaning material or clothing. I wondered, since it was an Irish store, is that use more common in the UK?
November 20, 2010, 06:12
arnieA drapery (or draper's shop) sells materials for clothes - and for furnishings like curtains (drapes). They also usually sell other related stuff like buttons, zips, hooks and eyes, and so on. There aren't many left nowadays following the demise of many specialist shops in the past fifty-odd years. In addition, far fewer people make their own clothes nowadays.
Many parts of Ireland are practically unchanged in many ways over the last century or so, so it's no surprise you'd see one there.
November 21, 2010, 20:59
KallehThat is interesting because a drapery here is a type of curtain. That's why I was surprised that the supposed drapery store sold no draperies.
November 22, 2010, 06:46
arnieWell, it would have sold the material that could be for making up curtains.