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Oh, *my.*
I'm continuing to research 18th century clothing, in preparation for sitting down with Bill this weekend to work out the details of my soon-to-exist summer-weight dancing costume. I found some reproduction patterns online, but I wanted period pictures for comparison's sake, and so I could get an idea of colors and fabrics.
The Howard County library didn't have much - a couple of books along the lines of "History of Women's Fashions, 1066-present," but nothing that you might call detailed or period-specific. Bill obligingly agreed to look in the Johns Hopkins library, if I could tell him what to search for. A bit of cross-referencing between the Costume Society of America's bookstore page, the descriptions of those books at Amazon, and the JHU library catalog, which they have kindly put online, and I now have two absolute wonders in my avaricious possession.
The crown jewel is this: Costume in Detail: 1730-1930 by Nancy Bradfield. Exquisitely detailed line drawings of dozens and dozens of dresses for the time period I want, shown taken apart and put together and from all sides. Little notes about how the dresses were sewn together and how they were worn. Measurements. Notes on the colors. Notes on how the individual dresses differed because of their owners' particular interests and needs. Notes on how the styles changed over time. And, because these are drawings of real dresses, they come in all different sizes - not just the idealized belle with the 20 inch waist.
Even if you don't think you're interested in period dress, check out this sample page for an example of geekery at its highest.
They have the paperback at Amazon for $24.50. Ohhh. I might need to own this.
The Howard County library didn't have much - a couple of books along the lines of "History of Women's Fashions, 1066-present," but nothing that you might call detailed or period-specific. Bill obligingly agreed to look in the Johns Hopkins library, if I could tell him what to search for. A bit of cross-referencing between the Costume Society of America's bookstore page, the descriptions of those books at Amazon, and the JHU library catalog, which they have kindly put online, and I now have two absolute wonders in my avaricious possession.
The crown jewel is this: Costume in Detail: 1730-1930 by Nancy Bradfield. Exquisitely detailed line drawings of dozens and dozens of dresses for the time period I want, shown taken apart and put together and from all sides. Little notes about how the dresses were sewn together and how they were worn. Measurements. Notes on the colors. Notes on how the individual dresses differed because of their owners' particular interests and needs. Notes on how the styles changed over time. And, because these are drawings of real dresses, they come in all different sizes - not just the idealized belle with the 20 inch waist.
Even if you don't think you're interested in period dress, check out this sample page for an example of geekery at its highest.
They have the paperback at Amazon for $24.50. Ohhh. I might need to own this.
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Oooh, that is an excellent present idea for my friend
gimme!
Want. Want want want!
Barbara, going to go lie down til the book lust passes.
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Yes, you need that book. I need it too - one on the never ending list....
Might also want to check out Sally Queen Associates - a bit of everything but tends to be heavily 18th century. I believe there is also an article there about 18th century jackets, in particular.
drooool!
(Anonymous) 2002-02-26 06:32 am (UTC)(link)*Please* tell me she wrote one with earlier dresses too, like starting around 1650! I want a Baroque-dancing dress...I could use one of the 1730 ones, I suppose, but I'd really rather pretend I danced with Louis XIV!
Anne
Re: drooool!
Alas, I don't think she did write an earlier one. She says in the preface that she started with the 18th century because there were enough surviving examples of dresses capable of withstanding examination. And even then, she says that most of the dresses included in the book are so frail that they will never be put on public display again, or even photographed. Of course, that was in the 1960s, and perhaps preservation science has advanced enough that it would be possible to examine some of the same dresses now.
Check out the link to the Costume Society of America in my post. They have a "bookstore" section with a lot of good resources.
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http://www.costumes.org/index.html (http://www.costumes.org/index.html)
Probably the best online resource for theatrical, historic and even fetish costumers you'll find.