Book Review: Patterns of Fashion 2

Continuing my Patterns of Fashion reviews.

Patterns of Fashion 2: Englishwomen's Dresses and Their Construction c.1860-1940 by Janet Arnold

This book follows up on Patterns of Fashion 1, covering women's dresses from 1860-1940.  There are 40 garments* included, with a minimum of two per decade (1880s) and a maximum of nine (1920s); most decades have at least four examples. As before, the dresses each have a gridded page of pattern pieces. In this volume, however, more views of each finished dress are included: all have a front, back, and either side or interior view, with most dresses having all four.  The side views are very helpful for which showing the skirt shapes, while the interiors help explain how the dresses were fastened, and some of their interior construction. Additionally, all of the pre-1920 dress get a whole page of sketches and textual description and another of pattern pieces; the 1920s/1930s dresses share two per page for the sketches (and patterns).

The information on scaling patterns, converting to metric, etc. is more truncating in this volume: the reader is referred to volume 1 for more information.  There are, however, additional instructions for making 1/4 scale dolls, to experiment with the patterns. There are 14 pages of contemporary patterns, cutting guides and magazine instructions (technically, this is 4 fewer pages than in volume 1, but there are so many illustrations, that it feels like more examples are included here).

I actually like volume two a little better than volume one; I think it's the extra interior views of the dresses, and the large number of examples for each timespan. That being said, if you work only in a very narrow window, the scarcity of examples could be a problem. I still think the level of detail, and the scarcity of such information in printed form, makes this a worthwhile reference, even if only one or two of the dresses is in your particular purview.

*All the garments here are dresses, a few have an accompanying coat or jacket, which is not counted towards the forty. Volume 1 included some related articles, like chemisettes and robes, in the total number of garments.

Stars: 5

Accuracy: High.  All original garments, with the component pieces graphed out.

Difficulty: Advanced (for reproducing garments). All levels for appreciating garment construction.

Overall Impression: As previously noted, the Patterns of Fashion books are my holy grail for how dresses were historically cut and constructed. I think this volume is particularly useful for the interior views, which help to demonstrate how late 19th century and early 20th century dresses were constructed and fastened.