In the Middle Ages tailors weren't  given much consideration, dresses didn't have to be form-fitting, cutting and sewing was simple. Dressmaking was 'arte lizera (light art)  and is done with little investment: you just need a needle and a thimble, scissors will work for all'. In Florence , from 1295 until Cosimo Ist rearranged  the Lesser Guilds (Arti  Minori), tailors belonged to Retail Cloth Dealers Guild. The tailor work began to be appreciated only starting from the XVIth century, when fashion imposed tight dresses, requiring competence in cutting and sewing.

[from: L’Italia nel Rinascimento – F. Cognasso;http://www.rmoa.unina.it;]