How To Make Historic American Costumes

"This Dover edition, first published in 2010, is an unabridged republication of How to Make Historic American Costumes, originally published by A. S. Barnes and Company, New York, in 1942."

This is a new release of the original 1942 edition.

Practical, informative guidebook shows how to create everything from short tunics worn by Saxon men in the fifth century to a lady's bustle dress of the late 1800s. 81 illustrations.

Providing a convenient and unique look at fashion and costume literature and how it has developed historically, this volume discusses monographic and reference literature and provides information on periodicals, research centers, and costume museums and collections. It also provides a new way of looking at the literature through a database of 58 Library of Congress subject headings. It covers topics from jeans to wedding dresses and features popular examples of how clothing is used and reflected in our culture through the literature discussed. Of interest to scholars, students, and anyone curious about the unique power clothing holds in our lives. Various types of reference sources are discussed including other guides to the literature, encyclopedia, dictionaries, biographical dictionaries, specialized bibliographies, and indexing and abstracting services. Electronic CD-ROM and online databases equivalents are included in the presentation of indexing and abstracting services with major networks such as OCLC, RLIN, Lexis/Nexis, and Dialog mentioned as well. In addition a list of 123 research centers, mainly libraries, is provided and arranged geographically by state, some 176 costume museums and collections of costumes located at colleges and universities are listed alphabetically, and a list of 278 periodicals on fashion, costume, clothing and related topics is provided. A database of some 58 clothing and accessory subject headings is analyzed in the Worldcat database with the literature of the top ten specific clothing and accessory subject terms limited to media publication format are covered. Additionally, histories of costume and fashion in the U.S. and works which concentrate on psychological, sociological or cultural aspects are outlined. An appendix, including the clothing and accessory database, and author and subject indexes conclude the volume.

This well-researched guide traces the evolution of English fashion for men and women through hundreds of illustrations. More than a history of style, it's a dressmaker's delight, filled with scaled-down patterns for 67 authentic costumes.

Subtitle on cover: Pattern cutting from the 16th to the 19th centuries.

This practical guide to historical costume is essential for anyone planning to create accurate period costumes for theatrical productions or historical reenactments. From the short tunics of Saxon men of the fifth century to a lady's bustle dress of the late nineteenth century, this richly illustrated work offers an abundance of authentic patterns. Details of pattern sizes, required materials, and sewing methods accompany simple diagrams for Elizabethan doublets, capes, and trunks; a coat and vest from the Restoration; a bell-shaped gown of the eighteenth century; an early nineteenth-century empire gown; a crinoline; and many other items. Diagrams are accurately drawn to scale from working patterns, and there are suggestions for the most suitable colors and textures for costumes of different historical periods. Students of costume design, tailors, and community theater groups will welcome this carefully researched guidebook to fifteen centuries of English costume.