Historic Costumes and How to Make Them

by Mary Fernald, E. Shenton, Eileen Shenton

This practical and informative guidebook is a "must-have" for anyone planning to create accurate period costumes for theatrical productions and historical reenactments. From short tunics worn by Saxon men in the fifth century to a lady's bustle dress of the late 1800s, this profusely illustrated text contains a wealth of authentic patterns. Information on pattern sizes, materials required, and methods of sewing accompany simply drawn diagrams for Elizabethan doublets, capes, and trunks; a man's coat and vest from the Restoration period; a lady's bell-shaped gown of the eighteenth century; an early-nineteenth-century empire gown; a crinoline; and other wardrobe items.
Diagrams have been carefully and accurately drawn to scale from working patterns, and detailed notes for making costumes include suggestions for the most suitable colors and textures to be used for costumes of particular historical periods. A final section includes diagrams and information for creating period headdresses, caps, and hoods. Students of costume design, home tailors, and community drama groups will welcome this carefully researched guide to fifteen centuries of English fashions.

Genres: Sewing, Nonfiction, History, Fashion, Historical, Art, Fashion History

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1937

Reviews

[chad chrysanthemum]

Difficult to rate because I've not tried any of the patterns etc. yet, so it feels unfair to determine until that point, given this is a book that focuses on both the history of costumes and importantly how to make them. Imaan pointed it out to me earlier today, so thank you to her, and it's pretty short so I finished it all in an hour or two. I found the first section on costuming for theatre to be quite funny as a lot of it is rather out of date (this was first published in 1937) --- but the rants on how difficult it is to find historically accurate fabrics, prints and dyes are even more relevant now! I did enjoy the section that told me that the only way to get an accurate idea of colouring for costumes is to go to my local picture gallery. We then have a crash course on the general trends of historical clothing from about 450-1880. It's a pretty brief overview and cuts out a lot of the complexity --- I am very well versed in Victorian women's fashions so it was easy to spot the enormous amounts of additional context, types of gowns, etc that it was missing. That being said, I don't know quite so much about most of the other periods covered in this book, and I enjoyed the brief overviews to give me a general feeling on what people were wearing. I especially appreciated that it makes sure to tell you both what the nobility were wearing, as well as lower classes and peasants, as I do think that's an element that is often missed in this sort of literature. I also enjoyed the many descriptions of weird and fantastical hats! It is a mighty shame how little focus there is in modern day in hats, and I reckon we should push for a revival of the Crespin or Chaperone headdresses. Finally, the authors provide simple patterns for most of the basic clothing items mentioned throughout, with the glaring omissions of any undergarments --- I do understand that the focus is on costuming for stage in which they state underdress won't be visible, but it is still very helpful to obtain the correct sillouhette! I imagine 1930s bras would have totally thrown off a lot of the gowns in the middle of the book where they should really be wearing stays or corsets. Additionally, they made the decision not to provide any sorts of patterns for men's suiting in the latter years covered, which I do think was a wise decision --- it's just so complicated that there's little point, and it just wouldn't come out right with the amount of detail they give you. If I use this for anything, it'll probably be some recreations of the Medieval gowns they discuss, as they look simple enough and are quite to my taste. I really think I could rock a sideless surcote, and I intend to discover this by getting some new fabric fairly shortly. Although in this heat I must note, very few short-sleeved styles exist until the 19th century! Anyway, if I do end up recreating anything, I'll try and update this review to talk about how it went --- I think I'm unlikely to scan and blow up the patterns, but just to use them as general guides of how to cut and pattern fabric myself. We'll see!

[Carolyn Page · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fanTAStic book on historical costuming of England for stage. The introduction is a general overview of what you can reasonably expect to achieve as far as accuracy, and goes into some detail with lighting and visual effects and how they affect what you should use for colors on stage. I just completed a lighting workshop at the local theater guild, and from what I can tell, the advice contained in the introduction is still applicable today. Honestly, while the lighting tech may have changed a very little for most of the intervening time between this books publish date and today, even the colors used by LED lights still follow the basic rules. Our local house combines a variety of lighting methods--the gels referred to in the intro have moved from REAL gelatine color slides to colored plastic, but it's basically the same.

The middle section of the book neatly chops up the years from old Saxon rule to the 1880s into various reigns, and gives lovely written descriptions. A bit sparse on the illustrations, but in this day and age one can hardly gripe about that. The final section is pattern pieces for the simpler costumes. Wisely, Ms. Fernald has left the complicated stitchery to more specialized patterns and instructions than she can briefly give in this book. The historic costume descriptions and intimate details of the fashions of each era are invaluable, and no less so are the general pieces of advice regarding costuming for any stage work given in the introduction. Five stars!

[Alicia Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic, and the patterns at the back can (theoretically) be scanned and blown up to 1:1 scale for drafting. This is technically written for the stage, but it's likely highly useful for anyone making costumes for occasions like Halloween. My only beef is the illustrations--the patterns would be better placed next to the descriptions, and it'd be nice to see more close-up examples of items.

[Michelle Hofacker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Has great information and pattern directions for what we were looking for. Wanted something to help with making accurate clothing for reenactment wear.

[Nicole Westen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good and informative book. I just wish they had included more pictures when discussing the clothing of different historical periods. The sewing instructions were a little difficult for me to follow as well, but I'm chocking that up to the age of the book (originally published sometime in the 1930's and recently reprinted).

[Riona · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all, this book was originally published in 1937, so some of the terms sound a little archaic and of course, technology has changed so not all of the information given is still relevant. For instance, in the introduction the authors spend about 5 pages prattling on about what colors should be used in theater in combination with what lighting, which is not only boring but also outdated since lights have come a long way in 70 years. There is also a kind of hilarious part where the authors state that one must study period art to get accurate representations of people's dress -- "If it is not possible to pay a visit to the National Gallery or the British Museum to examine paintings, it is possible to buy accurate post-card reproductions which will be found to be a great help." Or, you know, nowadays we have these great coffee table art books with huge glossy photos. Also, the internet.

Anachronisms aside, this is an okay resource for beginners, but not that great. The chapters are broken up into the following:

I. Saxon to Norman (460-1066)
II. Norman to Plantagenet (1066-1307)
III. Edward II to Richard II (1307-1399)
IV. Lancaster and York (1399-1485)
V. Early Tudor (1485-1558)
VI. Elizabeth and James I (1558-1625)
VII. Charles I and the Commonwealth (1625-1660)
VII. Charles II to Queen Anne (1660-1714)
IX. The Georgians (1714-1837)
X. Victorian Costume

Each chapter is only about 5 pages long, and divided into sub-chapters according to each monarch's reign. The text discusses both men's and women's dress, but the descriptions are just so brief and the garments are usually not described in detail. There is also a serious dearth of pictures. Good drawings are a necessity in costume books to illustrate what the garments actually looked like; no matter how good an author is at describing something, the reader may picture a wholly different garment. I need pictures! The few that are in here are mostly turned sideways, too, which drives me batty.

The second half of the book consists of "patterns", but they're more like rough diagrams. None are superimposed on a grid to make them easier to scale up, there are no grain lines or crossgrain bust/waist/hip points, and there is some kind of weird letter code used to mark the seamlines that I've never seen before. Maybe patterns have changed a lot in 70 years too, I don't know. In some cases they're helpful to picture what the iconic period garments looked like (only if you're good at reading patterns, obviously), but I don't think I would ever scale one up and use it. I would find it easier to drape or flat-pattern from scratch based on a reference photo or drawing.

[Phair · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reprint of 1937 work. Brief chapter on theatrical costume design is followed by overview of dress from Saxon thru Victorian arranged by British monarchs. Some muddy B&W reproductions of paintings and engravings illustrate the history section. Second half of the book contains simple pattern shapes for the various periods for men & women & brief construction directions. The patterns seem very reminiscent of Kohler. OK but not the most useful book on theatrical costume out there.

[Alys · Rating 2 out of 5]

You will NOT be able to recreate historical clothing by using this book. However, what you will be able to achieve is a generic modern interpretation of a silhouette. Well, except for the sleeves. If you follow their hanging sleeve diagram (or any other medieval sleeve pattern in the book) you will end up with a twisting, uncomfortable, wrinkled, ugly sleeve, because the cut and seaming are completely wrong. There are many other, much better, books on period costuming available.

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good and useful book, I like the little pictorials they have on some of the sections. Unlike what one of the previous reviewers said you CAN make the patterns into historical clothing (you just have to know how to adapt the pattern into a full size.) I have made two (as of the time of this review) or you can go to kinkos and have the pattern blown up. Either way a great book.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little outdated now (it is after all a Dover Publication) but a handy guide for getting the right silhouette for your costume. Mainly aimed at theatrical costumers rather than historical costumers it's a good place for getting the basics of look and style.