Sources and References

I’m a nerd for providing my sources and references for others to use. Here is a list of most of them. The ones in bold are the ones I use the most often or which I have found the most valuable as a resource.

I’m updating this all the time and it is getting longer and longer. You can jump to sections: General, Eighteenth Century, Nineteenth Century and Accessories.

General

Books and Articles

• Janet Arnold, Patterns of Fashion 1: Englishwomen’s dresses and their construction c. 1660-1860 (Macmillan, 1977).
  • New edition: Patterns of Fashion 1: Englishwomen’s dresses and their construction c.1720-1860 (The School of Historical Dress, 2021) [only from the School of Historical Dress]
• — Patterns of Fashion 2: Englishwomen’s dresses and their construction c. 1860-1940 (Macmillan, 1977). [new edition forthcoming]
• — Patterns of Fashion 5: The content, cut, construction and context of bodies, stays, hoops and rumps c. 1595-1795 (The School of Historical Dress, 2018) [only from the School of Historical Dress]
• — Patterns of Fashion 6 [forthcoming]
• Nancy Bradfield, Costume in Detail 1730-1930 (Dobby, 1968).
• Hilary Davidson, ‘The Embodied Turn: Making and Remaking Dress as an Academic Practice’, Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body and Culture 23(1): 1-34 (2019).
• Therese de Dillmont, Encyclopedia of Needlework, 1844. Illustrations of types of historical stitches and sewing techniques. It can be downloaded on archive.
• Jean Hunniset, Period Costume for Stage and Screen: Patterns for Women’s Dress 1500-1800 (Players Press, 1991).
• Jill Salen, Corsets: Historical Patterns & Techniques (Batsford, 2008).
• Norah Waugh, Corsets and Crinolines (Routledge/Theatre Art Books, 1954, repr. 2004).
• — The Cut of Men’s Clothes 1600-1900 (Faber and Faber, 1964, rep. 1985).
• — The Cut of Women’s Clothes 1600-1930 (MPG, 1968).

Websites and Blogs

• Association of Dress Historians, ‘A Guide to Online Sources for Dress History Research’, The Journal of Dress History 2(2): 92-105 (2018).
• Crow’s Eye Productions. Youtube. — Creators of the ‘Getting Dressed in…’ series which show what it was like to get dressed in different times in history.
• Dress and Textile Specialists, DATS Toolkits.
• FIT NYC, Costume & Textile Collections Online – List and descriptions of searchable online collections.
• LACMA, Undertaking the Making: LACMA Costume and Textiles Pattern Project — The Pattern Project is an online resource produced by the Costume and Textiles department at LACMA which publishes free downloadable garment patterns of historic dress in the permanent collection.
• Northern Society of Costume and Textiles, Pattern Packs from NSCT — The Society has produced a number of Pattern Packs designed to allow a competent dressmaker to make exact replicas of historical costumes from various periods, including a dress owned by Charlotte Bronte.
• Sewn Company Blog — includes video instruction on historical sewing and interviews about historical dressmaking, Sewn Company is owned by Sarah E. Woodyard, who completed her seven-years apprenticeship to become a Journeywoman mantua-maker and milliner at the Margaret Hunter Millinery Shop in Colonial Williamsburg. She does online classes and courses on historical sewing.
• The Underpinnings Museum.
• VADS: The Online Resources for visual arts.

Eighteenth Century

Books and Articles

• Linda Baumgarten and John Watson, Costume Close-Up: Clothing Construction and Pattern 1750-1790 (Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1999).
• Sharon Ann Burnston, Fitting & Proper: 18th Century Clothing from the Collection of the Chester County Historical Society (Scurlock Publishing Co, 1998).
• Barbara Johnson, A Lady of Fashion: Barbara Johnson’s Album of Styles and Fabrics, ed. by Natalie Rothstein (Thames & Hudson, 1987). — You can also see pages from Johnson’s album on the V&A website (see below)
• Lauren Stowell and Abby Cox, The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmaking (Page Street Publishing, 2017). — Containing four complete projects to create common outfits and accessories from 1740s, 1760s, 1780s and 1790s containing full period construction techniques and gridded patterns. Very good value and so informative.
• — The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Beauty (Page Street Publishing, 2019).

Websites and Blogs

• 18thC Notebook — Links to original 18th century garments in museum collections.
• Burnley and Trowbridge, Historic Fashion Tutorial Series. Youtube. — Video tutorials for some of the stitches used in 18th century sewing.
• Sharon Ann Burnston, ‘The Cognitive Shift, or 18th century Shifts: What I know and How I Learned It’, (2005, 2010, 2012).
• Kendra Van Cleave, ‘Late 18th Century Skirt Supports: Bum, Rumps, & Culs’ (2011) on Démodé: Historical costume projects & research resources, specializing in the 18th century.
• Colonial Williamsburg’s Online Collections.
• Barbara Johnson’s Album, 1746-1823. Accession T.219-1973. V&A, London. — an album of fabric samples collected by Barbara Johnson (1746-1823) throughout her life.
• National Trust Online Collections — contains the 18th century costume collection of Charles Wade at Snowshill Manor; some of which are illustrated in Bradfield and examined in Patterns of Fashion 1.
• Rockin’ the Rococo — Research and construction project of a wardrobe of an 18th century middle class Englishwoman using only period accurate materials and techniques.
• Lauren Stowell, ‘Hacking the “Outlander” Pattern. Simplicity 8161 – Tips, Tricks, and Alterations’, American Duchess (2016).
• Textile Sample Book, 1771. Accession #156.4 T31. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York — Contains swatches of fabric made by the Manchester manufacturing firm of Benjamin and John Bower.
• North West Territory Alliance, ‘Tin Box Patterns’ — includes patterns and instructions, mostly for military clothing.
• Winterthur Museums Collections Online.

Documents

• Hand Sewing Help: Stitches for 18th Century Reproduction Clothing [pdf] by North West Territory Alliance (2017).
• Sarah Woodyard, ‘Martha’s Mob Cap? A Milliner’s Hand-Sewn inquiry into Eighteenth-Century Caps ca. 1770 to 1800’. MA dissertation (University of Alberta, 2017). — A “hand-sewn inquiry” into the process of eighteenth-century caps, as well as a study of material history. Includes reconstruction process for three facsimile eighteenth-century caps.

Nineteenth Century

Books and Articles

Regency

• Hilary Davidson, Dress in the Age of Jane Austen: Regency Fashion (Yale University Press, 2019).
• — ‘Reconstructing Jane Austen’s Silk Pelisse, 1812-1814’, Costume 49(2): 198-223 (2015). — An excellent article available for free thanks to crowd-funding! Includes the pattern taken from original pelisse, research, method of construction and what it tells about the body of the woman who wore it.
• Sarah Jane Downing, Fashion in the Time of Jane Austen (Shire Library, 2010).
• Cassidy Percoco, Regency Women’s Dress: Techniques and Patterns 1800-1830 (QSM, 2015).

Victorian

• Heather Audin, Making Victorian Costumes for Women (The Crowood Press, 2015).
• Stella Blum, Victorian Fashions and Costumes from Harper’s Bazar 1867-1898 (Dover Books, 1974).
• Dressmaking, Up to Date (Butterick Publishing Company, 1905). A reprint of this is sold as Authentic Victorian Dressmaking Techniques, ed. by Kristina Harris (Dover, 1999) but it is available for free on archive.org.
• M. K. Gifford, Needlework (Thomas Nelson and Sons, [c.1910]).
• S. S. Gordon, The “Standard” Work on Cutting Ladies’ Tailor-Made Garments, revised edition (The Jno. J. Mitchell Co., 1908).
• Kristina Harris, 59 Authentic Turn-of-the-Century Patterns (Dover, 1995).
• Charles Hecklinger, The “Keystone” Jacket and Dress Cutter: A Treatise on Jackets, Dresses and Other Garments for Women (Herald of Fashion Co., 1895).
• Eleanor Houghton, ‘Unravelling the Mystery: Charlotte Brontë’s 1850 “Thackeray Dress”‘, Costume 50(2): 194-219 (2016). — A great article (available for free) examining one of Charlotte Brontë’s dresses.
• Izabela Pitcher, The Victorian Dressmaker: Making Clothes for Women (Prior Attire, 2018).
• Elizabeth Rosevear, A Text-Book of Needlework, Knitting and Cutting-Out, 4th edn (Macmillan and Co., 1907). [First edition published 1893].
• The Voice of Fashion, Vol XI, No. 45 (August, 1 1897).
• —, Vol XII, No. 46 (November 14, 1897).
• Agnes Walker and Jane A. Strachan, Manual of Needlework and Cutting Out, 8th edn (Blackie and Son, 1914). [First edition published 1897).
• The Workwoman’s Guide (Simpkin, Marshal and Co, 1840).

Websites and Blogs

• Black Snail Blog: Tips, Tricks and Sewing Projects.
• ‘How to Floss a Corset’ by Sidney Eileen.

Accessories

• Rebecca Unsworth, ‘Hands Deep in History: Pockets in Men and Women’s Dress in Western Europe, c. 1480-1630′, Costume 51(2): 148-170 (2017).