Before patterns, there was fabric and a body. Cloth was wrapped, folded, and adjusted to changing weather, movement, landscape and individual needs. Garments adapted to the body rather than forcing the body to adapt to them.
Today, most clothing begins with a pattern - a template based on measurements, averages, and assumptions about what a body should be. The pattern became a tool for standardization of bodies, embedding ideas of normality, productivity, gender, and beauty into the very construction of clothing. As industrial fashion expanded, fashion gradually shifted from serving bodies to disciplining them and demanding conformity.