Book Review: The Tudors: Art and Majesty in Renaissance England

A few winters ago now, The Met had an exhibit on Tudor artwork, and I was very excited to get my hands on a copy of the exhibition catalog (before the exhibit ended even!), though I procrastinated writing it up. In a fun turn, however, I recently discovered that the museum put a walk-through video of the exhibit online, and that inspired me to finally finish the review.

The Tudors: Art and Majesty in Renaissance England

The Tudors: Art and Majesty in Renaissance England by Elizabeth Cleland and Adam Eaker is the exhibition book for the Metropolitan Museum's Winter 2022-2023 exhibit of 16th century English art and portraiture. As the title suggests, that exhibit mostly looked at the portraiture and decorative arts of Tudor England, particularly that of the royal family, and how such artworks helped shape the Tudor dynasty's public image.

The book is organized around the 123 artifacts in the exhibit (or intended to be in the exhibit as originally conceived before 2020 happened), grouped chronologically and thematically into four sections. These explore the role of art in defining the Tudor dynasty, creating its public image, enhancing the prestige of its court, and shaping its historic legacy. Nine essays divided between these contextualize the art, providing overviews of the historic events concurrent with their making, as well as the artists, stylistic movements, customs, and physical spaces which informed them. Holbein, naturally, gets his own essay.

Each artifact has its label, a full-color picture, and 1-3 pages of accompanying narrative discussing the specific artwork's provenance, purpose, symbolism, maker (as best as can be determined), construction techniques, etc. Many of these artifact write-ups also contained additional photographs of related artworks not included in the exhibit itself (such as buildings). In addition to the numerous portraits and miniatures, the featured artifacts include tapestries, embroideries, garments, armor, ceremonial plate, sketches, plans for buildings and decorative features, medals, sculpture, and prints. All of the Tudor monarchs are included, though Elizabeth I and Henry VIII's relatively long reigns are most heavily featured.

As an exhibit book, this volume is focused on interpreting specific artworks. While the essays do provide historic context and link these pieces to wider artistic movements, the history that is being covered spans over a century, and so is handled in very broad strokes. I liked that the what theory is discussed ends up thoroughly grounded in physical artifacts, though that might not be to everyone's taste. With so much material to cover, close-up and detail shots are not included. Also, while there is a very wide variety of objects included, paintings are far and away the largest category. If, for example, you're looking for many images of original 16th century armor, this isn't the right book; if you want two suits of armor discussed context of the splendor of Henry VIII's court, it just might be.

In size and photograph quality, this is a coffee table book. It's quite pretty, with large, full-color photographs (249 total). Not being able to attend the exhibit in person, this book is the next best thing. I am also excited to add to my library a physical book of high-quality visual references from this period.

Score: 4.5 stars.

Accuracy: High. Lots of photographs of original 16th century art, and the text is all discussion of these pieces.

Strongest Impression: A gorgeous book. Very useful for anyone interested in 16th century English art history, 16th century English royals, or who just wants a physical reference book for the classic portraits of that time. This isn't going to be particularly useful for the hands-on aspect of recreating garments, or for a thorough grounding in the period's history, but it's top-notch for inspiration and has interesting insights into artistic trends during the time period.

Book Review: The Domestic Revolution

The Domestic Revolution by Ruth Goodman

 

I have a new favorite Ruth Goodman book. Embarrassingly enough, I ordered The Domestic Revolution: How the Introduction of Coal into Our Homes Changed Everything when it first came out in 2020, read it three times, but somehow never actually finished this post. The book is a bit of a departure from the author's previous titles, spanning the 16th to 19th centuries instead of focusing on a single century/reign, and it really delves the changes over that period rather than giving a snapshot of a particular time. As the subtitle suggests, this book explores the causes and effects of adopting coal as the primary domestic fuel in England. 

The book is 302 pages (excluding the bibliography), divided into nine chapters. The first of these discusses the various fuels that were used before the widespread adoption of coal; later chapters explore the factors which led to coal replacing wood as Britain's main fuel coal, the evidence for how/where coal use spread through the island, and the resulting the changes in land-use patterns, cooking methods, house fixtures, and cleaning practices that arose from domestic coal use. The primary sources are eclectic, including wills/inventories, charitable bequests, household manuals, cookbooks, surviving buildings, advertisements, patents; I find their use persuasive and the conclusions drawn from them plausible. The author also describes her own historical experiments where relevant (particularly concerning cooking and the idiosyncrasies of using different fuels) which I think adds a unique practical dimension to the discussion.

This is a fairly text-heavy book. The images, averaging just over six per chapter, are often copied from period sources. There are no color illustrations, and the modern images are mostly simple illustrations or diagrams (including grates, coppices, peat cooking fires, the reconstructed Mary Rose galley.) There were times when I wished I was standing next to a reconstructed oven with the author pointing out the relevant features, but overall the text carries the message and the book doesn't really suffer from having few illustrations. As always, the writing is approachable, and reads like a friend telling you all about their latest historic research project. The text does not use numbered citations, but the bibliography is divided by chapter.

Overall, I found the book enjoyable, and thought-provoking. I particularly like how the author ties the different subtopic to eachother: how land-use affects the availability of different fuels, how those fuels affect cooking styles and oven design; tracing the changes to English cuisine as coal replaced slower fuels; and even the different cleaning methods needed in a coal-burning versus wood-burning households.

*In addition to wood, the first chapter explores the practical aspects of other domestic fuels used in Britain prior to and aside from coal, including peat/turves, heather, gorse/ling, furze, and animal dung.

Score: Five Stars.

Accuracy: High.

Strongest Impression: An interesting synthesis of Ruth's many areas of expertise, this book caused me to seriously rethink the interconnected-ness of housework, energy, land-use, and foodways, as well as offering insight into how fuel choice shapes cooking (and many other things.)

Book Review: The Housekeeper's Tale

The Housekeeper's Tale by Tessa Boase

 

The Housekeeper's Tale: The Women Who Really Ran the English Country House by Tessa Boase is a light but informative exploration of the real lives of five 19th-20th century British housekeepers.  

The book has 289 pages, divided into five chapters with an introduction and an epilogue. Each chapter functions as a case study following one housekeeper in one country house. Arranged chronologically, the first chapter opens in 1832 (though the woman in question began working at that house in 1818), and the last chapter follows a career of 1920-1971. The prologue uses an 1890 advertisement for a housekeeper to introduce the occupation and its qualifications, while the epilogue follows a present-day (2013) housekeeper working in a historic country house. There are sixteen pages of photographs in the center of the book, showing the different houses, the housekeepers (where possible) and some of the documents and artifacts which informed the book. Many of the original images are black and white, but the modern ones are in color.

The author is a journalist by trade, which really shows up in the writing: she crafts an eminently readable narrative, albeit one which occasionally speculates about the housekeepers' thoughts and reactions. I think the latter is good interpretation that causes the reader to empathize with the housekeepers' experiences, but it's also something to keep in mind when using the book for reference. Although the work is based on primary sources including letters, diaries, account books, newspaper articles, and contemporary advice books, it doesn't have the density of citations per page that one finds in most academic writing.

I found this an enjoyable and informative book, and a quick read. The one aspect that I question is the choice of the five cases. While the idea of the Victorian housekeeper is routinely invoked, all of the five real-life example are substantial exceptions to that archetype. For example, while it is repeatedly stated that housekeepers were expected to leave service upon marriage, three of the five examples used here are women who were married with children while working as housekeepers; the only "spinster" housekeepers were one who ended up prosecuted for theft, and the one whose short tenure was exclusively during the house's use as a World War I hospital. And while I think this points to a larger theme that no one really fits a single mold, it also feels like the selected case studies are not necessarily representative examples. But then, per the Laurel Thatcher Ulrich quote, a 'well-behaved' woman following her expected role does not leave documentation the way a more disruptive one does.

 

Score: 4 stars as a book (3.5 as reference material)

Accuracy: The book delves into some interesting and otherwise inaccessible (manuscript) primary sources, but you do need to keep an eye out for the inventive and speculative reconstructions. 

Strongest Impression: An informative but not taxing read, and definitely the better sort of popular history book. Useful background reading for housekeeping, and especially for the changes which British domestic service underwent from c.1830-1970, but I wouldn't use this as the sole source for an impression. 

Book Review: Tudor Children

Cover for Tudor Children by Nicholas Orme

Medieval Children by Nicholas Orme is one of my favorite resource, so I was very excited to hear that he had a new book taking that research into the 16th century.

Like its predecessor, Tudor Children uses literary, documentary, and artistic sources to explore the lives and experiences of children in England during the Tudor Period (c.1485-1603). As Orme observes, few records made by children survive to reveal their lived experiences. Instead, small details must be drawn out of schoolbooks, memorial brasses, manuscript illuminations, popular plays, religious tracts, and occasionally court cases.

The eight chapters of this book (230 pages) are divided thematically into subjects such as religion, education, and recreation. The arrangement is also roughly chronological, beginning with birth/infancy, and ending with a chapter on adolescence. Although religion has its own chapter--dealing with baptism, religious instruction, and evidence for/against children's participation in church services--it also forms a frequent demarcation throughout the book. Every chapter includes some mention of the changes between pre-reformation and post-reformation England, whether in the ceremonies surrounding a birth, or in the reduced number of children's choirs in England after 1549.

A lot of the pre-1549 material is similar to Medieval Children, which makes sense, though it did give me a bit of deja vu. There is some very interesting historiographic discussion of how 16th century sources differ from earlier ones, including the effect of humanist education practices on surviving schoolboy writings. The book is also lavishly adorned with full-color images taken from contemporary art, such as that shown on the cover.

I do have one quibble with the research: on page 43-44, discussing children's clothing, the author states that drawers were worn, and elsewhere that their presence "can be assumed." This remark accompanies quotations listing the clothing provided for specific 16th century children, with drawers not included in the lists. I'm not sure where this came from; the main source cited for the topic of clothing, Anne Buck's Children's Costume in England, doesn't mention drawers before the late 17th century or braies after the 14th. It's a minor issue, but I don't like unsupported assertions of fact.

Despite that one point, I found this book enjoyable and informative, with sufficient citations and extensive quotations from period sources. The writing style is very readable by academic standards, though a step or two more formal than most popular history books.

 

Score: 5 stars.

Accuracy: High. Many period sources are quoted, and the book uses full academic citations with end notes. My one complaint in regards rigor is detailed above.

Strongest Impression: A solid overview of many aspects of daily-life, based on reputable primary sources. I'd highly recommend this volume for anyone interpreting the 16th or early 17th centuries, since we all were children at one point.

Book Review: Ladies in Waiting

A book review in honor of Jane Boleyn, Viscountess Rochford, who was executed 481 years ago today, and has been treated shabbily ever since.

Ladies in Waiting: Women Who Served in the Tudor Court by Victoria Evans is a fairly light and easy introduction to the households of Henry VIII's queens. The period covered is 1501-1547, beginning with Catherine of Aragon's arrival in England. This 193-page book is divided in 14 chapters, with a short introduction and epilogue. The first section (4 chapters, 70 pages) lays the groundwork for how Tudor royal apartments were arranged and staffed; the remainder of the book (10 chapters, 123 pages) looks more closely at each queen's household. Three chapters each are allowed to Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn, in order to discuss how their households changed over time: before marriage,  as queen, and while out of Henry's favor. The other four queens each get one chapter.

The information presented in this book was mostly not new to me, which was a little disappointing. It draws a lot on secondary sources I was already familiar with, notably biographies of the queens and of their attendants--including Jane Dormer, Jane Parker, and Mary Boleyn. The material I was most excited to find were longer quotations from the Lisle letters than I've read elsewhere. The bibliography is helpfully divided into primary and secondary sources.

I found the writing style a little choppy, particularly in the transitions between paragraphs. The paragraphs themselves are mostly quite short, and the pages are double spaced, so the text reads quickly and doesn't feel dense. The author does adhere closely to the subject headings and chapter divisions, so even without a strong narrative structure, the current topic always remains clear.

I think I would have liked this book more if I wasn't expecting it to be something else (a dense history book focused more on the maids of honor and ladies in waiting than on the queens themselves). As it is, I think this book would be a good choice for introducing someone to the workings of the royal court and to research based on primary sources.

Score: 3.5 stars. The material's pretty solid, but the narrative is a little rough.

Accuracy: Good. Primary and reputable secondary sources are cited and quoted.

Strongest Impression: It's a good introduction to the subject, but there's not much new material if you're already familiar with the biographies of Henry VIII's queens. Highly recommended for a quick review on the royal households. If you're looking for serious academic writing or new research, this probably isn't the book for you.

Book Review: Costume Close Up

Costume Close-Up (1999) by Baumgarten & Weston

 

Another book-review that I keep neglecting to post. Costume Close-Up: Clothing Construction and Pattern, 1750-1790 by Linda Baumgarten and John Weston is a detailed exploration of 25 items of the late 18th century clothing from the Williamsburg Collection. Three are ensembles with multiple components, giving a total of 30 garments featured. 

 

The book itself is 120 pages. It begins with a 6-page introduction which broadly covers 18th century fashionable silhouettes, how to study antique clothing, 18th sewing techniques, and garment terminology. Excepting 2 pages of end-notes, the rest of the book is divided into 25 sections, each investigating one garment or ensemble. Thirty short 'side topics' (each about a paragraph long with an illustration) are scattered throughout the relevant sections to provide context on how the garments/materials were made, what kinds of people worn them, etc. There's also a 5-page spread of color photographs.

 

The different sections each begin with the artifacts' identifying information. Short paragraphs then discuss the garment category, the materials used in this example, any evidence of how this specific garment was altered, and the construction methods present in it. The last category is the longest, with each technique or point of interest getting its own short paragraph. Each garment or outfit has at least two black-and-white photographs (full length and a detail), as well as line-drawings of all its component pieces on a scaled page (in inches & cm). Where relevant, line drawings are also used to show embroidery patterns or particular construction methods. There are one or two asides depending on the item, often accompanied by a contemporary image of similar garments. For example, the #5 quilted petticoat has an aside addressing 'who wore quilted petticoats?' with an 1783 engraving of a woman wearing one, and a second aside on block printing accompanied by a c.1780 print.

Per the authors' introduction, this book is not a manual for sewing 18th century clothing, but was intended as an introduction to studying antique garments. I think that it does this job admirably, while also providing useful information for recreating specific garments. I appreciate the amount of detail that is included, and admire how approachable the authors have made it. I have my copy shelved right next to Patterns of Fashion 1, but I could see myself handing this book to a new researcher or repro sewist where I would hesitate to start someone on PoF.

 

The two things that would make this book even better are more color pictures, and an actual grid on the pattern diagrams. Admittedly, I believe the latter was a deliberate choice, as it allows the scales on the edges to be marked in both metric and standard, but I do personally prefer having the grid when scaling up designs. For the former, Williamsburg has digitized over 1200 items from their costume collection (including every item from this book that I've searched for).

Stars: 5

Accuracy: High. It's all original garments.

Skill Level: Suitable for all levels as a guide to garment study. Advanced for garment recreation (would be need to be comfortable scaling pattern diagrams, fitting, determining work order, etc.) 

Strongest Impression: Really shines on the details. Has the diagrams and descriptions of a Janet Arnold book, but with more pictures and more explanations.

Book Review: The Typical Tudor

 At long last: The Typical Tudor.

[Full disclosure: as an early pre-order customer, I did receive an advanced version of the chapters on men's jerkins and on women's coats & waistcoats, and also provided feedback on one of the round gown patterns.] 

I ordered this in The Before Time. It was worth the wait.

The Typical Tudor: Reconstructing Everyday 16th Century Dress by Jane Malcolm-Davies and Ninya Mikhaila is the 6th book from the Tudor Tailor. I've previously reviewed three of their other works: The Queen's Servants, The Tudor Tailor, and The Tudor Child.

Chronologically, The Typical Tudor covers a lot of the same period as The Tudor Tailor. At 191 pages (excluding bibliography), this book is substantially longer than the other books from this publisher. Where it really distinguishes itself is in its meticulous research--to provide context to the garments, this book includes a very thorough overview of 16th century English economics and social class divisions. There's also detailed discussions of fabrics available (fiber, processing, finishing, price, usage), the cloth- and garment-making trades, trimmings, sumptuary laws, annual income by professions, etc. The first 35 pages are devoted to these topics, including many period illustrations, and photographs of surviving garments--as well as some excellent tables quantifying the extent garments which were researched.

There are 14 pages of general construction notes which include scaling the pattern grids, sewing methods, and knitting techniques. Next comes 135 pages of projects. These are grouped into 5 categories (undergarments, men's wear, women's wear, headwear, and others). Each grouping begins with a research overview including the evidence for each garment type, who was using the garments, the frequency of different materials/colors, and changes over the time period. Not counting variations, there are 40 base projects covering the beginning, middle, and end of the Tudor period for men and women: stockings, garters, hose, smocks, shirts, doublets, jerkins, kirtles, petticoats, coats, gowns, caps, coifs, hoods, aprons, and more. Knitting projects include stockings, sleeves, and caps. As in the earlier publications, each project includes line drawings and photographs of the reconstructed garments, a materials list, the pattern pieces drawn out on a grid (scaled down), and basic instructions for how to construct the garment.

In scope and topics, this book most closely follows The Tudor Tailor, and does include updates of some of the same patterns (like the woman's round gown and kirtle or man's hose). However, The Typical Tudor has benefited from an additional 16 years of research, and includes both new garments and updated interpretations of others. One notable update was the different shapes and construction methods for the coifs. The "everyday dress" aspect of The Typical Tudor puts an emphasis on the garments worn by the working class and gentry, which comprises a huge swath of the population: the only groups that are really excluded are the monarch's family and upper nobility/clergy.

This book also incorporates some features I that appreciated from its more recent predecessors. Like The Queen's Servants (and I presume, The King's Servants), each project is accompanied by pie graphs showing the most common colors and fabrics used for that garment.* Each project also has a small chart the year-range and social class to which the garment is appropriate, which was a feature I appreciated in The Tudor Child.

Project drafts and instructions are suitable for intermediate to advanced sewists; scaling up and fitting the patterns will be needed, though instructions are provided. If you've worked with any of their previous titles, this is very similar to the writing style in those. The only problem I've found with the book is a cut-off sentence on page 87 at the end of the research on Men's Doublets.

I would honestly recommend this book for anyone doing any form of 16th century costuming. Even if you're looking to recreate nobles' garments from the reigns of Henry VIII-Elizabeth, I think the techniques and shapes provided give a more more historically-grounded starting point than any other reference book I know of.

*From the research the authors conducted, which included documentary evidence from wills and inventories, as well as surviving garments.

**The exception being, that if you're looking for nobles' attire in the reign of Henry VII, I would steer you towards The King's Servants and/or The Queen's Servants.

Stars: 5

Accuracy: High. This is easily the most thoroughly-researched (and certainly the most thoroughly-cited) costume book I have encountered to date.

Skill Level: Intermediate, tending Advanced

Strongest Impression: Incredibly scholarship; this book is full of accurate detail, while also providing fairly user-friendly instructions and diagrams. 

Preparing for Faire

It's been a few years since I attended this particular event, so a refresher on Early Modern everything seems in order. The object to get back into that 1570s mindset ASAP, so I pulled out some of the more accessible secondary/tertiary sources for a quick skim. Mostly, I want to review all the minutiae of early modern daily life that lies outside my main research interests. And make sure that I have all the coin denominations in order before trying to play picquet.

 

Reading List

In no particular order:

• A Compendium of Common Knowledge (Elizabethan, not pictured because it's a web resource) Bit-sized summaries of just about every topic under the sun: vocabulary, religion, servants' pay, where to shop in London...
  

• Easy Street (Interpretation) How To Engage With Audiences: The Book.
  

• The Time-Travellers' Guide to Elizabethan England (Elizabethan) Various topics, especially for someone traveling through England in the 16th century. Useful table of coin values.
  

• How to Be a Tudor (early 16th century, not pictured) For refreshing on the details of daily routines.

• Black Tudors (16th century) Life stories of specific individuals through the 16th century.

• How to Behave Badly in Elizabethan England (Elizabethan) The opposite of charm school.

• The Domestic Revolution (16th-20th century) Less niche than it appears--fuel use has major implications for trade, vernacular architecture, housekeeping, cooking methods, and even land use. Not all early modern, but the first half is relevant.
  

• Women in Warfare (16th-18th century) Very useful for my specific impression as a camp follower. Definitely the most dense of these sources, but included for extreme relevance.
  

• Description of England (1587) Actually a primary source, but it's really useful for language as well as weird details. Not so quick a read, but worth skimming as time permits.

Book Review: Fashion Victims

Fashion Victims: Dress at the Court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette 

by Kimberley Christman-Campbell.

This is one beautiful, big book. It combines the lavish illustrations of a coffee table volume with the research of an academic journal, and a highly readable narrative voice.

Fashion Victims runs 319 large (9.5" x 11") pages, exclusive of notes/bibliography, with 245 images (all in color, and up to a whole page in size). The images are largely contemporary portraits and fashion engraving, though a fair number of original garments also appear--all beautifully mounted museum specimens, including one of the only surviving examples of a chemise ala Reine.

The book is divided into twenty chapters in four roughly thematic sections. Some chapters focus on the sociopolitical and economic contexts for 18th century French high fashion--such as the rise of celebrity fashion designers and fashion publications, or the traditional divisions between royalty and fashion fads. Other chapters explore particular stylistic fads (orientalism, fashions ala Figaro), or clothing for specific occasions (mourning, court dress), or iconic garments (the pouf, the chemise dress). The book is very specifically focused on the 1770s-1780s in alignment with the 1774-1792 reign of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. The final chapter explores the affect of French emigres on European fashion in the 1790s-1800s, up to the 1814 Bourbon restoration.   

If you were curious about the development of fashion culture in and around Paris in the latter 18th century, this is the book for you. It looks at not only how fashion developed as a career/hobby/lifestyle, but also how fashion was perceived in the wider society, and how fashion affected and was affected by politics. The book covers people as well as trends, and philosophies. So if you want to see a ton of lovely Vigee-Lebrun portraits, learn about the origins and applications of the 'pouf', and better understand Rose Bertin's career trajectory, this is an excellent book for it.

My only caveat is that it's not a quick and easy read nor is it a flip-through reference. I found the individual chapters suited to pleasure reading, though the book itself is a bit too large and heavy for reading on the go.

Stars: 5

Accuracy: A thoroughly-researched book with full citations.

Strongest Impression: Thoughtful, informative, and beautiful. An excellent resource for those doing late 18th century costuming, or otherwise studying/writing about the period. 

Book Review: The Pocket

 

The Pocket: A Hidden History of Women's Lives by Barbara Burman and Ariane Fennetaux is a well-sourced yet highly readable survey of the 240+ year history of detached pockets.

This book is lavishly illustrated with color photographs of original pockets, supplemented by contemporary depictions of pockets in use, primarily paintings and engravings, to a total of 161 images. The book's 214 pages are divided thematically into seven chapters (plus introduction and conclusion), investigating not only the construction and use of pockets, but also the social, economic, and sentimental implications of pockets throughout the period. There are a further 40 pages of notes and indexes, including a list by decade of all the court cases at the Old Bailey in which pockets are mentioned; original pockets included in the work are also listed by museum for easier research. The examples and sources are largely British. 

There are no diagrams or instructions for replicating period pockets, but the many photographs offer ready inspiration for material, style and decoration; a fair number of close-ups are included, highlighting old repairs and interesting construction details.

I found this book very interesting. The thematic arrangement and lively writing style made for an enjoyable read. The non-chronological narrative makes feel less like a reference book, though the extensive endnotes and works cited offer a good start for further research. Judicious use of sticky-notes might also be in order for someone interested in a particular subset of the book's timespan. It seems like the late 18th into the early 19th century has the most material featured, but considering the paucity of early sources in general and the waning popularity of the garment on the other end of the period, I think the authors make a good attempt at including the whole timespan c.1660-1900.

Stars: 5

Accuracy: High

Strongest Impression: Informative and highly enjoyable. It's already added nuance to my understanding of pockets during my main time period (1855-1865)

Book Review: How to Behave Badly in Elizabethan England

How To Behave Badly In Elizabethan England by Ruth Goodman

Ms. Goodman is at it again! We're back to the 16th century, this time learning about social mores by violating them.

As usual, the writing is conversational and informative. Unlike the temporal ("a day in the life") organization of How To Be A Victorian or How to be a Tudor, How to Behave Badly is divided thematically. The six chapters cover difference way to misbehave, including offensive language, gestures, violence, poor hygiene, etc. With introduction and conclusion, the book clocks in at 293 pages.

I like how edifying the book was--I learned more than I expected to about the origins and class implications of 'swashbuckling', as well as how to bow sarcastically. I also liked how the author dissected the composition of verbal insults, and that she addressed the gender divide in both physical altercations and offensive language.  There was also attention paid to changes in good/bad behavior over the time of the book (nominally Elizabeth I's reign of 1558-1603, but including sources from c.1460-c.1700).

This book is a fun read, and manages to be thorough without becoming a reference book. As previously mentioned, the voice is generally conversational, such that it feels like conversing with an enthusiastic and well-informed friend. There are, however, times it reads a bit like a negated etiquette manual--because the author summarizes the correct behavior described in etiquette manuals in order to discuss how to subvert that behavior. The sources available for this time and topic do color the presentation and contents: in addition to etiquette instructions showing what should be done (and occasionally deploring what is done but shouldn't be), a decent amount of the bad behavior comes from the extreme cases that caused legal disputes: trial summaries from the insults that warranted slander proceedings and the fights that caused injury or property damage. There's also a certain amount of recourse to contemporary literary characters who typify boorish or foolish behavior.


Stars: 5

Accuracy: High. Sources are cited in-line, and a primary-source-heavy bibliography is included.

Overall Impression: An amusing read, and full of good background information for people who interpret the 16th century. It draws heavily from contemporary advice literature and legal records, but I think it delivers on the promise to show bad behavior.

Book Review: The Medieval Tailor's Assistant

I'm not sure how I missed writing this one up the first time around. Or last December when I otherwise cleared my book backlog. And now that I've made just about every hair covering in it, it's long past time for a review.

The Medieval Tailor's Assistant by Sarah Thursfield. Do check out the author's website: there are pretty pictures, as well as an explanation of the differences between the first and second editions of the book. The copy I'm reviewing is the 2012 printing of the first edition.

***

The book is subtitled "Making Common Garments 1200-1500", and what you see is what you get: men's, women's, and children's garments for a 300-year period covering the late middle ages. Accessories, undergarments, and outerwear are included--everything except shoes.

All of this is covered in ~220 pages, so efficiency is key. Construction techniques and fitting/block-making instructions are given at the outset (including 4 pages of illustrated handsewing stitches); consequently, the individual projects are handled with a line-drawing, a graphed cutting diagram, and a few sentences or short paragraphs about construction. Period materials are also discussed.

Note also, due to the long time frame, when each garment is appropriate (they are marked, and most of the period illustrations include a citation). Attempts are made to denote which garments are worn together and during what time frame.  My favorite is the timeline on page 14 which shows approximate date ranges on the different garments. Featured garments include shirts/smocks, braes, hose, cotes, doublets, kirtles, surcoates, cotehardies, gowns, cloaks, hats, caps, head-dresses, and such accessories as bags, apron, mittens, and belts. Additionally, the chapter opening for each main garment (gowns, cotehardies) include line drawings of the relevant under- and over- layers for both men and women.

I have no real complaints about this book. The number of photographs is few, but the ones that are included are lovely (and the second edition has more!), while the line drawings are both plentiful and quite informative. If you like very detailed, incremental instructions, you may find this book a little daunting. Personally, I found it enjoyable to use: I love clear cutting diagrams.

Stars: 5

Accuracy: Good. The illustrations come from recognizable period images, but I could do with a couple more in-line citations.

Difficulty: Intermediate. The focus is on the cutting and assembly geometry, which I found easy to follow; the construction and stitches are much more straightforward than in some other periods. Persons who aren't comfortable with altering patterns and fitting may have difficulty.

Overall Impression: An easy-to-use, all-in-one guide to making medieval costumes along historic lines. Good for dressing men, women, and children from the skin out. You'll likely want to supplement with your own research (more about colors, material, context), but this books will be very helpful for figuring out how to render period images into garments. This is an excellent resource for costumers, designers, and cosplayers.

Book Review: The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Beauty

For the first time, a timely review!
[Translation: my pre-ordered copy arrived today.]

The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Beauty by Lauren Stowell and Abby Cox (with Cheney McKnight).

I've been excited for this book since I heard about it last January.  First, because I like historic hair-dressing, and second because I have a lot of faith in the authors' work. Their previous book on 18th Century Dress-Making presented well-cited research in a straightforward conversational manner, lavishly illustrated with color photographs. The projects were all based on specific paintings, period publications and surviving artifacts; the techniques were from the period with some reconstruction (not make-dos for hiding modern methods).

Suffice to say, I had moderately high expectations coming in.

Those expectations were met. One of the first projects in this book is a hand-sewn sheer peignoir to wear while dressing one's hair. From that point, it's safe to say they owned my soul.*

This book matches its predecessor in size and heft; it's 215 pages from Introduction to Epilogue, exclusive of notes and bibliography. There are eight general hairstyles covering the years 1750 to 1795, each with its own cushion project (to support the hair in the desired shape) and a suitable cap. Five pieces of outerwear (2 hats, 2 bonnets and a hood), the peignoir, a few ornamental bows, and three hair pieces round out the sewn projects.  There are also cosmetic recipes: 3 pomatums, 2 hair powders, 1 rouge, and 1 lip salve.  All have step-by-step illustrated instructions. Some of the project instructions will refer to other ones (particularly to the pomading and powdering section), but I didn't find this distracting or hard to follow.

As with the dress book, the projects are clustered chronologically: each hairstyle is preceded by the relevant cushion project and any specific texturing techniques (curl, crape) and is followed by the appropriate cap as well as any bonnets/lappets/plumes. Four models appear in the eight tutorials, and there is discussion about adapting the techniques for different hair textures. Ms. McKnight contributed a two-page summary on how women of African descent living in Europe and North America in the 18th century dressed their hair.

Stars: 5

Accuracy: High. The models look like they stepped out of mid/late 18th century portraits, and sources are cited.

Difficulty: All levels. The hairstyles are labelled easy to difficult. Four pages of stitch tutorials are included for the less-experienced sewist (many projects, including all of the shaped hair-pads and accessories, require some sewing). I've not yet tried the hairstyles, as I need to make the pads and hairpieces.

Strongest Impression: This is a very useful resource for anyone trying to understand how late 18th century hairstyles actually work. I think it's invaluable for living historians interpreting c.1750-1795, but also for costume designers, artists, authors, and other people depicting women's life/behavior/material culture.

*The casual humor also won me over.  I will happily pledge fealty to anyone who writes a serious book about historic hair-dressing methods while making their hard pomade in Darth Vader molds.

Book Review: The Tudor Child

The Tudor Child: Clothing and Culture 1485-1625 by Jane Huggett and Ninya Mikhaila (ed. Jane Malcolm Davies).

I was expecting a slim research volume akin to The Queen's Servants (which I love and will defend against all nay-sayers) and was pleasantly surprised at the depth and breadth of this book. It truly is The Tudor Tailor for smaller persons. The main geographical focus is on England and northern Europe, with some Italian references also included. The book clocks in at 151 pages, excluding notes and index.

The first fifty pages are research: a brief peak into children's lives during the period, followed by explorations of garments for infants/toddlers, girls aged 4-12, and boys aged 4-12.  While few garments survive for this period, they still manage to feature several garments or garment fragments, as well as period paintings, sculpture and even stained glass which depict children. All of the illustrations are color photographs.  There's a further 12 pages discussing the materials used in children's clothing, including the different colors which can be documented.  The construction section includes a couple of pages on general sewing techniques (pleats, gathering, buttonholes, making thread and cloth buttons, different seam finishes), as well as advice on selecting materials and on using the patterns.  The patterns compromise nearly half the book (over 80 pages).

The patterns in this book are for children 0-12, both boys and girls. Except for the basic garments, which are given in two-year-age intervals, most of these are given in a single size: some re-scaling and fitting will be required to take full use of this book. Fortunately, basic instructions are provided. The projects included are:

• Childbed linen for 0-3 month old (elite and simple versions)
• Knit waistcoat for 3-6 mo, and infant petticoat
• Shirt and smock (for 8 year-olds, but with instructions to adjust for all-sized children)
• Bodies (c.1591) for a 6 year-old
• Spanish farthingale for a 10 year old
• French farthingale for a 2 year old
• Basic doublet, bodice and sleeve patterns* for 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 year-olds
• Skirt patterns* (sized for an 8-year-old, with instructions to scale up and down)
• Doublet, hose and coat for a 6 year-old boy (early 16th century)
• Coat and petticoat for a 6 year-old boy
• Doublet, breeches and coat for a 10 year-old boy (late 16th century)
• 1560s Kirtle and coat/gown for a 4-year-old
• 1560s Waistcoat and petticoat for a 12-year-old girl
• 1520-30s Kirtle and Gown for a 6-year-old girl
• 1546 Petticoat, kirtle, foresleeves, and gown for a 10-year-old girl (Elizabeth I portrait)
• 1547 Jacket, hose and gown for a 10-year-old boy (Edward VI portrait)
• 1565 Kirtle and gown for a 10-year-old girl
• 1588 Petticoat and coat for an infant (8 mo)
• 1600-1608 Doublet and petticoat for a 2-year-old
• Loose gown for a 12-year-old girl (1580s-1620s)
• Bodies, petticoat, and gown for a 6-year-old girl (1600-1640)
• Aprons, bibs, ruffs, collars, cuffs
• Biggins, caps, and coifs
• Frontlets, bonnets, and French hoods
• Caps, bonnets, and hats
• Stockings, mittens, and shoes
• A doll

*These are used together to make coats, gowns, petticoats, etc.--not "bodice and skirt" separates.

For all of the garments, a small chart is included to indicate whether the garment was used by lower, middle or upper class children, and whether it is appropriate to the beginning, middle or end of the Tudor period (approximately 1485-1540, 1540-1580, or 1580-1625). Some styles are used by all, others show up only in upper class clothing or linger in lower class use after elite fashion has moved on.

The best part is that each garment and ensemble is modeled by adorable children--it's like a series of Bruegel and Holbein paintings come to life.  Additionally, there is a two-page photo tutorial showing how to properly swaddle a very young infant (0-3 months), and another showing how women's garments can be adjusted for pregnancy.

Overall, I think this is a fabulous book. It branches out a little from the adult volume--including a handful of knitting projects, as well as a basic infant turnshoe. With a little work to scale and fit, one could easily use this book to construct garments suitable for children of all ages and classes, from the late 15th to early 17th century.  Some of this could also be done by scaling down The Tudor Tailor's adult patterns to child-sized, but I wouldn't recommend that unless you're really strapped for time/money, have good drafting skills, and are clothing larger kids (infants and toddlers have some different styles than adults, even more so than older children).

Stars: 5

Accuracy: Pretty High.  A few original garments, but many original paintings; there is explicit explanation of what information is currently available about children's clothing in the period, and what is inference or speculation.  Each garment pattern has margin notes about the sources it is based on.

Difficulty: Intermediate to advanced.  Ambitious beginning sewists with good spacial reasoning and/or a mentor may also be able to make garments, particularly the basic ones. For less experienced sewists there is both basic sewing instruction and scaling/fitting advice included.

Overall Impression:  I think this is an interesting and worthwhile book in its own right, and would recommend it to anyone clothing children from the late 15th to early 17th century, or interested in learning about children's clothes from that period.

Book Review: Patterns of Fashion 5

On the fifth day of Christmas: a review of the newest Patterns of Fashion book, which I received as a present this year. It's currently available for sale from the School of Historical Dress (this is the first printing, and future print runs are not guaranteed).

Patterns of Fashion 5: The content, cut, construction and context of bodies, stays, hoops and rumps c.1595-1795 is the latest, posthumous, book from Jane Arnold's extensive research into Western costume (additional content by Jenny Tiramani and Luca Costigliolo, et al).  Having already covered gowns, gowns and more gowns/doublets, as well as linens, we now get women's foundation garments--all the stays and skirt supporters that make the fashionable silhouette of the 17th and 18th centuries.

First off, this is a huge book--at 160 pages, it's the same size as volumes 1 and 2 combined. Like volume 4, volume 5 has color photographs of the historic garments. Here, however, they are placed right next to the patterns instead of making a separate gallery at the beginning. In several cases, the color photographs have replaced the line-drawings of the complete garment; all told, I prefer the cases where both are present. The photographs show color and texture, while the line-drawings show cut and construction (though, admittedly, the pattern pieces do this too). The use of color has also been extended to the patterns themselves, where it it used to differentiate layers and boning, etc.

The book is divided into two main parts: stays, and skirt supports. Twenty-seven sets of stays or boned bodices (and two busks), dated from c.1598 to the 1790s are featured, as well as twelve farthingales/hoops/rumps from c.1550 to 1800.  Before the patterns, there's a 25-page introductory section: lavishly illustrated with both modern photographs of surviving garments and historic images, it explores the materials used in stays and hoops; historic cutting diagrams; and contemporary illustrations of the garments.

As a fun bonus, some of the 17th and 18th century stays have accompanying stomachers; two court ensembles (1660s and 1760s) are patterned along with their petticoats, trains, and stomachers.  I was also intrigued by the inclusion of a set of maternity stays (c.1665-1675), and of riding stays (1780s).  For those making garments, there's a page discussing how to take measurements for 17th/18th century stays, and another three explaining how to draft custom patterns based on the historic ones (with pictures). I'm also enjoying the English-French-German-Spanish-Italian-[Swedish/Dutch] glossary of fabric and garment terms.

I'm honestly a little overwhelmed by the size and scope of this book. My main impression is that it's 1) beautiful, 2) detailed, and 3) full of useful information. Definitely useful for making 17th and 18th century undergarments, and vital for those interested in English court dress of that time frame. 

Stars: 5

Accuracy: High.  All original garments, lots of contemporary portraiture included.

Difficulty: Advanced for making garments (there is some drafting advice included to help). All levels for appreciating garment construction.

Overall Impression: Possibly the best one yet. The research remains impeccable; the pairing of photographs with the pattern diagrams makes it even easier to use than volumes 3-4, since there's less need to flip back and forth.   

Book Review: Corsets and Crinolines

The fourth day of Christmas brings another long-delayed book review.

Corsets and Crinolines by Nora Wraugh [I'm looking at the 2004 reprint of 1970 2nd edition; originally published 1954. Apparently, there's a newer (2017) edition out, too.]

This edition of Corsets and Crinolines comes in at  ~170 pages.  This includes 20 pages dealing with the sixteenth century through 1670; 38 pages for 1670-1800; and 74 pages on 1800-1925. Each of these three chapters is subdivided to first look at foundation garments for the torso (stays, corsets, bodies), then at the skirt supports (farthingales, rumps, panniers, crinolines, bustles), and finally at contemporary descriptions and depictions of these garments.  The other features include a bibliography, background on whalebone, advice on constructing hoops, and a glossary of historic terms and materials related to foundation garments.

Approximately 26 garments are featured with line-drawings and pattern sketches; these are mostly original garments, with one pattern excerpted from Diderot's Encyclopedia. The pattern pieces are presented with a scale ruler, but without a grid or measurements written in: you can draft a pattern from these, but it'll take some work and math. For appreciating how corset shapes changed over time, however, the illustrations are useful--there are 115 images all told, including the pattern diagrams, photographs of historical garments and contemporary (historic) images.  Still, for covering 3 1/2 centuries, I wouldn't mind a few more examples.

Other than that, the main thing I would change about this book is the formatting: the divide by time and then type organization makes it sometimes difficult to find what one is looking for, or to compare across time periods.  I have a number of bookmarks in my copy in order to locate the images I used most often. For how I use the book, I think that grouping all the corsets chronologically in one chapter, then all the hoops, and then the depictions, would be more useful.

This is really a classic book in costuming circles. If I recall correctly, it was first recommended to me on a LiveJournal corsetry group almost 15 years ago.  That is to say, this book has good information, and solid research, but the costuming community has had over 60 years to expand upon it.  I'd recommend that most costumers check it out at some point, but depending on your specific needs, there might be titles with more examples from your preferred era, with grided patterns that are easier to adapt, or with more/colored photographs of the original garments being discussed. That being said, I think this is still a useful book, particularly for context, ie, the textual sources and contemporary images which accompany the patterns.  Also, do check out the preface: I really like Ms. Waugh's hypothesis about silhouettes reaching maximum exaggeration and then radically changing direction.

Stars: 4

Level: Advanced to copy the garments; all levels to learn.

Accuracy: High.

Strongest Impression: A classic, and worth reading at least once. There's likely a newer title that will meet your specific needs, but this is still a solid book with interesting information. 

Book Review: Patterns of Fashion 4

On the second day of Christmas: a 4th Patterns of Fashion review.

Patterns of Fashion 4: The Cut and Construction of Linen Shirts, Smocks, Neckwear, Headwear and Accessories for Men and Women c.1540-1660 by Janet Arnold (additional material by Jenny Tiramani and Santina M. Levey)

Volume 4 is approximately contemporaneous with Patterns of Fashion 3 (1540-1660 v. 1560-1620), but instead of gowns and doublets, it focuses on linen undergarments and accessories. The size and formatting closely resembles that of volume 3: it's 128 pages, includes photographs, etc. The main points of difference are that the garment photographs are in color (47 pages), and are separated from the general information on period garment construction (11 pages, includes a half-dozen illustrations of period stitching techniques and some embroidery information).  I really liked how much detail and how many images were given for each garment--the larger ones have an entire page of color close-ups, with similar garments in contemporary portraits included for comparison; some even have portraits of the original wearer! The smaller items have a half or third of a page, but each still gets multiple shots and contextualizing information.  One neat inclusion in this book is a 2-page tutorial (with photographs) of how modern costumers can starch ruffs at home.

Because many of the garments in this book are small (ruffs, bands, etc.) there are often two or more patterns on a given page; the text descriptions for anything smaller than a shirt/smock also tend to share space. Fortunately, this means that 85 different garments or parts are featured-- 15 womens' smocks, 15 mens' shirts, 20 ruffs and related garments, 22 bands, 14 coifs/caps and 9 other accessories (gloves, drawers, boothose, a purse).

Regarding burial clothing, only three of the garments featured in this book are so identified: Nils Sture's shirt, bands from another Sture shirt, and Claes Bielkenstierna's shirt (all Swedish, incidentally).  The commentary on Nils Sture's shirt includes non-graphic discussion of wounds. The pictures of the Sture garments do not obviously show the blood and damage mentioned in the text; the photographs of Bielkenstierna's shirt, and a shirt worn by Gustav II Adolph do show bloodstains from battle-wounds (pages 24-25, if one wishes to avoid seeing them).


Stars: 5

Accuracy: High.  All original garments, lots of contemporary portraiture included.

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

Overall Impression: Another fabulously informative book.  It meshes really well with volume 3 (two of the shirts were worn with doublets featured in volume 3), and has beautiful close-up images of the original garments. A must for 16th-17th century costumers, and those interested in embroidery and sewing from that time period.

Book Review: Patterns of Fashion 3

The third of my Patterns of Fashion reviews.

Patterns of Fashion 3: The Cut and Construction of Clothes for Men and Women c. 1560-1620 by Janet Arnold

The format of this book follows the others. Notable differences are the length (128 pages versus 76 and 88 pages for the first two), the inclusion of men's and children's garments, and the addition of photographs. In lieu of period cutting diagrams and patterns (which aren't exactly available for the 16th-17th centuries), volume 3 has 38 pages of  photographs of the profiled garments. Although they are black and white, the photographs show lovely details, and they are accompanied by contemporary portraits and effigies which depict similar garments in use.

All told, there are 56 garments or sets of garments included (the suits mostly being doublet-and-hose combinations); these include gowns, doublets, trunkhose, breeches, cloaks, and hats.  Most are for adults, though a handful of children's garments are included. About a fifth of the garments profiled are burial garments, including those of Eleanora di Toledo, Cosimo di  Medici, Dorothea Sabine von Neuberg, and Svante, Erik, and Nils Sture. As a result, many of these garments are closely dated, and have relatively extensive background information.*

Each garment gets as many pages as it needs--the record appears to be 5 pages for Nils Sture's leather doublet and wool plunderhosen, including multiple views of the complete garments, close-up detail drawings of construction techniques, and the pattern pieces.

*For those so concerned, there is some textual mention of death and burial conditions, as relates to the condition of the clothing--including mention of the wounds which killed the Sture men, and differing rates of decomposition in some garments. However, these aspects are not depicted on the diagrams and drawings, and the photographs focus on other details of the garments. In a few cases, jagged lines are used to show the extent of extant fabric on a pattern piece, with conjectures of the full shape.

[Side note: I am currently reading The Cultural World of Eleanora di Toldeo, and found the diagrams of her gown to be a useful companion to the chapter on "The burial attire of Eleonora di Toledo" by Mary Westerman Bulgarella--and that chapter to be a good explanation/companion to the diagrams here, going into greater detail about the condition of the gown, and how its original form was deciphered.]

Stars: 5

Accuracy: High.  All original garments, etc.

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

Overall Impression: The Patterns of Fashion books are really useful for understanding how garments were actually cut and constructed  in the past. I like how many of the garments profiled in volume 3 come with specific details about who wore them, and when; the inclusion of pictures, albeit in black and white, is also a nice boon. If you do any sort of costuming for the late 1500s and early 1600s, get this book.

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.

Book Review: Patterns of Fashion 1

In honor of Patterns of Fashion 5 being published by the The School of Historical Dress, I offer my belated reviews on the earlier volumes.

Patterns of Fashion 1: Englishwomen's Dresses and Their Construction c.1660-1860 by Janet Arnold
(revised edition, 1972)

I really, really like this series.  As far as I can tell, Patterns of Fashion is the ur-example of a book based on measuring original historic dresses, and graphing out the component pieces (see also Corsets: Historical Patterns & Techniques, Regency Women's Dresses).  And I really like that as a way of understanding the actual, historical methods for cutting and constructing of garments.

The bulk of the book is sketches of original dresses, with gridded patterns--most garments get a half-page of line drawings showing the garment as worn (front and back, some with additional detail sketches), and a page of 1/8 scale pattern pieces.  There is also a good 18 pages worth of research and discussion on period dressmaking (including contemporary patterns, and depictions of dress-making), a one-page timeline of fashionable dress shapes, two pages of metric conversion information, and two pages of instructions for how to scale up the patterns.

I really appreciate that the pattern pieces are annotated to show connection points, trim lines, the location of pleats, fasteners, etc.  Size and grain position are also given, which is a level of detail I rarely see in costuming books.  The drawings are, in my opinion, very clear and detailed.  The front cover gives a good idea of this, but I think the black-on-white of the interior pages is crisper and clearer than the white-on-black cover. 

The book does give some suggestions for reproducing the garments, but if you are new to historic sewing, additional sources will be needed. The only historic sewing technique covered is cartridge pleating, which comes with instructions/illustrations at the end of the 'scaling up' section. The book list at the end does include recommendations for books on historic sewing.  It is explicitly stated these are diagrams of real garments, made to fit specific people when worn in particular ways; and thus that reproducing  them requires scaling the pattern, fitting it to the intended wearer, knowledge of sewing techniques, and proper undergarments.

The only other caveat I have is that the book has ~50 examples to cover a 200 year period, so if you are looking at only a narrow time frame, you may have few useful garments to choose from (but the information you do get is something you can't find in many other places). For instance, there was only one dress from c.1660, and one more c.1710 (a second dress from that decade appears in the additional notes); looking around 1750, however, has seven different garments including a gown, two jackets, a petticoat, two stomachers, and a pocket.  The period 1730-1830 is particularly well-represented.

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: The Patterns of Fashion books are my holy grail for how dresses were historically cut and constructed.  They are very useful for exploring how styles changed over time, and I'd recommend that every costumer or historian interested in western fashion read them. Or, at least, read the ones relevant to you time period.  Even if there's only one or two garments from your particular year range, the cutting information is really interesting, and it's not something that easily found in other sources.