Last night my buddy John called to ask what do you call someone who makes hats. I thought, "Duh, a hat maker!" But before answering, and knowing John, I knew he was looking for the fancier synonym: haberdasher. After a brief conversation about it, I was left to wondering if I it meant what we thought it did. I did a little online research this morning and determined that, as I suspected, I didn't have it entirely correct.
It turns out that haberdasher is a general term for one who sells men's furnishings. In the UK, it means a dealer in sewing notions and small wares.
Its etymology, according to the Fourth Edition of The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, is Middle English, perhaps from Anglo-Norman hapertas, petty wares.
According to a citation from Dictionary.com's search results, the 1913 version of Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary provides a more extensive etymology. It suggests that the term may haved originated from the Icelandic phrase, hapurtask trumpery which then moved to English through French.
Can anyone name a movie where the word haberdashery is used?
The correct term that you and John were looking for is "milliner."
According to Dictionary.com this is the definition for milliner:
\Mil"li*ner\, n. [From Milaner an inhabitant of Milan, in Italy; hence, a man from Milan who imported women's finery.] 1. Formerly, a man who imported and dealt in small articles of a miscellaneous kind, especially such as please the fancy of women. [Obs.]
No milliner can so fit his customers with gloves. --Shak.
2. A person, usually a woman, who makes, trims, or deals in hats, bonnets, headdresses, etc., for women.
I see we have located a feminine version of hat maker. Is there a mascuiline version ?