Becoming a Passementiere

To become a passementiere you had to undergo a 3 year apprenticeship. Only after you had produced an original piece of work ( a chef d’oeuvre) approved by the guild committee were you permitted to become a member of the Guild in your own right and trade as a passementiere.

Despite the rigid regulations of the Guild if you married the daughter of a passementiere you could short circuit the apprenticeship and the chef d'oevre. If you were the widow of a passementiere you could continue the atelier with existing apprentices and train them to become 'master passementieres' but you could not take on any new apprentices.