Working through some of the many books I read this year, but haven't had time to write-up.
Historical Costumes of England, 1066-1968 (revised edition) by Nancy Bradfield
Historic Costumes of
England is an ambitious book, covering 900 years of costume history. And, with that in mind, I think it fares adequately.
The costumes are organized by monarch. Since reigns can range from 2 years (Edward V/Richard III) to 67 years (Victoria), some of the shorter ones grouped together; as a the result, most book sections cover 20-40 years of English clothing. For each, there's a page of illustrations of men's clothing with a facing page of text, and another pair of pages on women's clothing. Some of the longer time spans get a second page of illustrations, while Victorian women's clothing is divided into three chronological parts (menswear gets one page of illustration with two of text).
Each page of illustrations generally contains eight sketched figures, although some have a dozen or more. I liked how the illustrations were of the clothing being worn, showing different styles on the body. The figures are loosely arranged in groups which hint of tableaux, so it looks contextual, a little more like real people, rather than diagrams
The downsides are that there's lots of material to cover, so most figures aren't full-length, and none have full front and back views (there are figures in profile). Only a few figures have specific dates attached, but the text gives some cues about earlier/later fashions within a reign, and briefly addresses the differences between old and young, or rich and poor. The images are detailed (and in some cases familiar), which suggests that particular historic sources were consulted, but no citation list or bibliography is included.
Due to scope, this book really functions best for survey purposes. It's really not specific enough to costume multiple characters for a particular year (especially getting into these later times when so much more information is available), but it is a quick start to acquaint your eye with the time. I could see it being a very useful first reference for theatrical costumers, or a visual guide for people working across multiple eras, but it's not in-depth enough to be very useful for most of the costuming I do.
The costumes are organized by monarch. Since reigns can range from 2 years (Edward V/Richard III) to 67 years (Victoria), some of the shorter ones grouped together; as a the result, most book sections cover 20-40 years of English clothing. For each, there's a page of illustrations of men's clothing with a facing page of text, and another pair of pages on women's clothing. Some of the longer time spans get a second page of illustrations, while Victorian women's clothing is divided into three chronological parts (menswear gets one page of illustration with two of text).
Each page of illustrations generally contains eight sketched figures, although some have a dozen or more. I liked how the illustrations were of the clothing being worn, showing different styles on the body. The figures are loosely arranged in groups which hint of tableaux, so it looks contextual, a little more like real people, rather than diagrams
The downsides are that there's lots of material to cover, so most figures aren't full-length, and none have full front and back views (there are figures in profile). Only a few figures have specific dates attached, but the text gives some cues about earlier/later fashions within a reign, and briefly addresses the differences between old and young, or rich and poor. The images are detailed (and in some cases familiar), which suggests that particular historic sources were consulted, but no citation list or bibliography is included.
Due to scope, this book really functions best for survey purposes. It's really not specific enough to costume multiple characters for a particular year (especially getting into these later times when so much more information is available), but it is a quick start to acquaint your eye with the time. I could see it being a very useful first reference for theatrical costumers, or a visual guide for people working across multiple eras, but it's not in-depth enough to be very useful for most of the costuming I do.
Accuracy: Good, so far as I can tell, but more citations would be welcome.
Strongest Impression: A breadth book, rather than a depth one. It's good at what it does, but if you need color images or specific information, it's probably not your best choice.
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