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Historical Costuming FAQ

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drawings by Folkwear cover artist Deborah Kuhn. ISBN: 0-9636517-0-6.
Publisher: Lavolta Press, 20 Meadowbrook Drive, San Francisco, CA 94132.
Published 1993. Price: $35 + sales tax for CA residents + $3.50
shipping. Bibliography, index. About half focuses on reproducing
historic styles from medieval through Art Deco. The other half focuses
on buying, restoring, and altering vintage clothes from Victorian
through Art Deco. Both men's and women's clothes are discussed. The
step-by-step instructions are suitable for beginning to advanced sewers.

Hansen, Henny Harald, Mongol Costume
This is a translation of a Danish text cataloging Mongol costume from
several Danish expeditions to Mongolia to study the nomadic tribes. The
expeditions were from the turn of the century, the collected costumes were
cataloged by Professor Harald Hansen in the early fifties, and the book was
recently re-edited and released.

Hartley, Dorothy. Medieval Costume & Life; A Review of Their Social
Aspects Arranged under Various Classes and Workers with Instructions
for Making Numerous Types of Dress, New York, C. Scribner's Sons,
1931. Includes workable patterns that make sense within the time
period.

Hill, Margot Hamilton & Pater A. Buchnell. The Evolution of Fashion:
Pattern & Cut from 1066-1930. [Susanna Richardson
(glink@silver.ucs.indiana.edu) states this this book is often
incorrect.]

Hillhouse, Marion and Evelyn A Mansfield. Dress Design: Draping and
Flat Pattern Making. Riverside Press, 1948. Clear instructions on
draping, with excellent drawings of bodice, skirt, sleeve, and
neckline styles. Perfect for reproducing styles of the 1940's.

Holkeboer, Katherine Strand. Patterns for Theatrical Costumes. Edson,
Doris & Lucy Barton. Period Patterns.

Houston, Mary G. Medieval Costumes in England and France, The 13th,
14th, and 15th Centuries, London, A&C Black, 1965,1939. 8 plates in
color, 350 drawings in black & white.

Houston, Mary G. & Florence Hornblower. Medieval Costumes in England
and France.

Hunnisett, Gail. Historical Costuming for Stage. Hunnisett was involved
in the costuming for the BBC's production of "Elizabeth R".

Hunnisett, Jean. Period Costume for Stage and Screen: Patterns for
Women's Dress 1500 - 1800.

Hunnisett, Jean. Period Costume for Stage & Screen, Patterns for
Women's Dress 1800 - 1909 ISBN 0-88734-609-X published by:
Players Press, Inc. P.O. Box 1132, Studio City, CA 91614-0132.
It is a very informative book, with a good description on how to create
crinolines, and fitting a basic bodice. There are even many pages of various
dresses and bodices with scaled diagrams (on graph paper)of each pattern
piece. One of the many reviewers on the net looked at the earlier book
"Patterns for Women's Dress 1500 - 1800" and there are scaled diagrams in
that one as well.

Newton, Stella Mary. Fashion in the Age of the Black Prince: A Study of
th. Years 1340-1365. WoodBridge: Boydell Press; Totowa, NJ: Rowman &
Littlefield, 1980. May be out of print. Check your local library.

Nunn, Joan. Fashion in Costume, 1200-1980. 1984. bibliography. 256
pages. Good black and white line drawings.

Owen-Crocker, Gale R. Dress in Anglo Saxon England, Manchester Univ.
Press, 1986. This book covers clothing from 500-1500. There are
separate chapters for men's and women's clothing in each of several
periods, including very detailed study of 5th-7th century English
costume with photos of clothing from archaeological digs. The book is
documented principally with archaeological and linguistic/literary
evidence; it has good footnotes and bibliography.

Payne, Blanche.History of Costume from Ancient Egypt to 20th Century.
c.1965. New York. Harper & Row. Includes patterns drawn to scale.
Uses primary sources. ISBN: 0823049582

Peacock, John, The Chronicle of Western Costume - From the
Ancient World to the late 20th Century. Publisher Thames and
Hudson Ltd London (1991) ISBN 0-500-01490-6

John Peacock was senior costume designer for the BBC. This book is
great for getting ideas for costumes - it is literally page after
page of illustrations and sketches. The only problem is that Mr
Peacock is not always careful about showing details (ie seams etc)
and the illustrations are basically coloured sketches. I use it
mainly for SCA newcomers to look through and decide a period that
appeals to them before going on in more detail.

Scott, Margaret. The 14th and 15th Centuries. London, Botsford, 1986.

Schnurnberger, Lynn Edelmann. Kings, Queens, Knights & Jesters: Making
Medieval Costumes. New York: Harper & Row, 1978. Cross-listed under
the juvenile section, but was produced in association with the
Metropolitan Museum of Art. Might be useful.

Sronkova, Olga. Gothic Women's Fashion. Prague, Artia, 1954. [Bohemian
costuming]

Waugh, Norah. Corsets and Crinolines. Theatre Arts Books, copyright 1970
(and 1954?). 176 pages, illustrated, bibliography. History of the
corset, including the different shapes used in different periods (e.g.
Tudor, Victorian, Edwardian). One reviewer from the net states this is
a wonderful book. The back section contains many corsets and petticoats
that are in scale. It even includes the boning lines, as they sometimes
don't follow normal seam placement.

Waugh, Norah. From an article on sewing costumes in Threads #30: Waugh,
Norah: _The Cut of Women's Clothes 1600-1930_ and _The Cut of Men's
Clothes 1600-1900_ (Theatre Arts Books) Concise descriptions and
drawings of men's garments from 1600 to 1900. Includes scaled patterns
that can be enlarged.

Yarwood, Dorren. European Costume: 4000 years of Fashion. 1975. 305
pages. Includes bibliography. Good black and white line drawings.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional sources:

One tactic for using scaled patterns to construct garments is to choose
a garment in a book, make a transparency of the pattern in the book,
and go buy a pattern as similar as possible. Then project the
transparency on the wall and use it to adjust the bought pattern to the
style of the garment in the book.

An annotated bibliography of pre-1650 costume sources (including books
and periodicals) is available from:
Puffs and Slashes
c/o L. R. Fox
P. O. Box 443
Bloomington, IN 47402-0443
$2.50 per copy

Susanna Richardson (glink@silver.ucs.indiana.edu) is presently (late
1992, early 1993) working on monograph/handbooks for women's clothing,
which should be about $6/book. Each one will detail making a particular
gown. She has books for Jane Seymour and Beatrice d'Este gowns done,
and ready for the printers. She will be providing mail-order for people
who do not attend SCA or ECW events.

Members of the SCA have written and published other books specifically
for costumes within the SCA periods. One useful book is.
_Medieval Costume_ by Mistress Katrine de Baillie du Chat. copyright
1988. ISBN 0-943228-01-8. $7.25 (may be an old price). published by:
Raymond's Quiet Press
PO Box 35118
Albuquerque, NM 87176
This book includes text and line drawings describing some common
garments appropriate for SCA. Shows the basic cut of the garments. For
some garments the author discusses how to select an appropriate current
pattern and modify it for creating a SCA garment. Note: This book may
be out of print and unavailable.
Second Note: It is the opinion of some that this book may be
a duplicate of the first four volumes of Norris's books. It is
the opinion of some that the books by Norris are a much better
reference. Not having personally read this book, I the faq=keeper
cannot comment.

Dover has a Pictorial Archive catalog and a Needlework catalog. The
Needlework catalog includes several books that discuss Renaissance
embroidery. The Pictorial Archive catalog has a FEW books that cover
costumes. Typically these are books that contain pictures of people in
costume. There are few (none?) books with actual costumes drafted.
Dover Publications
31 East 2nd St
Mineola, NY 11501

The Whole Costumer's Catalogue
c/o Karen Dick, Editor
207 Main Street
Beallsville, PA 15313-0207
412/632-3242
Can be ordered for $18/copy, postpaid

Be sure to check the list of sources and references in the regular
alt.sewing and rec.crafts.textiles.* FAQs. A number are appropriate for
costuming. If you are interested in drafting patterns, please be sure
to check out some of the books listed in the Textile Books FAQ. Books
that are labeled [HIST-COST] may be particularly appropriate for
historical costuming.

2a) What happened to Medieval Miscellanea?

They were purchased!

Costume Connection
PO Box 4518
Falls Church, VA 22044
phone (703)237-1373
fax (703)237-1374
- This company purchased the rights to the Period Patterns that were produced byMedieaval Miscellanea. The Costume Connection, Inc. is also producing an
ever-growing line of their own patterns. They also sell jewelry, books, etc.
Both wholesalers and retailers are welcome to contact.

3) What about period fabrics?

Ann Feeney (afeeney@mcs.com) is maintaining a list of sources
for fabrics appropriate for historical costuming. Write to Ann for the
most current copy of her list.

A slightly condensed version of Ann's list is included below:

A number of people recommended various fabric chains. In particular
some people mentioned Hancocks (particularly in Portland, Oregon and
Vancouver, Washington). Others mentioned their favorite bargain stores
that also sell many natural fabrics.

The Pendleton Woollen Mills has an outlet in Nebraska City, Nebraska.
They carry wools and occasionally have satin, velvet, and lots of modern
blouse and dress fabric. The by-the-pound table is mill ends or flawed
materials.

Pendleton Woolen Mills also has an outlet in Portland, Oregon as well as
a factory outlet in Pendleton, Oregon itself.

Leather Unlimited
7155 Cty Highway B
Box L WBMC
Belgium, WI 53004
(414) 994-9464
Mail order only

Fishman's Fabric Outlet
620 W. Roosevelt Road
Chicago, IL 60607
(312) 922-4170
Silks at about $5/yard

Textile Discount Outlet
2126 W. 21st Street
Chicago, IL 60608
(312) 847-0572
No recent info, but used to have cottons at good prices

Aero Drapery Outlet
122 Messner Drive
Wheeling, IL 60090
Minnesota Fabrics outlet

Roaring River Mills, in Altoona, PA, is now closed.

Horowitz Brothers: New Haven, CT, two blocks from the Coliseum. A
moderate to good remnants section that often has reasonably priced
tapestry fabrics. Good selection of wools (sales in the spring),
excellent trim section, moderate but reasonably priced velvets and a
good supply of cottons and linens of various weights.

New Haven Leather: Half a block closer to the Coliseum than Horowitz
Brothers. Three or four stories of leather piles in a ramshackle old
building that you will miss if you are not looking for it. A recessed
door and two windows and a faded sign mark the front. THIS is the shoe
source! Prepunched soles, heels, threads, dyes and just about
everything else you would need for shoes is hidden in here. Leathers
are reasonably priced and there is a fantastic selection if they will
let you upstairs. Armor grade leather was available last I looked.
They keep banker's hours.

Affordable Fabrics: CT, Rt 99 just south of the intersection with Rt 91,
in or near Enfield. $1.99 a yard for everything in the place. Open 7
days a week. Cottons in broadcloth and heavier weights, selection varies
with the season. Wools and blends especially in the spring. Including
pure linen, pure wool, and pure silk! And I'm told it's a chain with stores
in New Haven and Milford.

Millie Mills: CT, Rt 99 just south of the intersection with Rt 91.
Diagonally across the street from Affordable Fabrics. Prices are
slightly higher, but the selection is a little better for odd fabrics.

Zimmans: Lynn MA. An excellent supply of tapestry fabrics, at
near-wholesale prices. They have consistently been 20 to 30% lower than
the other local stores. Downstairs there is a 4'x12'x1.5' cabinet full
of buckles and other items for use on belts. Solid copper and brass,
with only a few items that have been plated. These are the leftovers
from the 70s and are tarnished, but polish up very well. Perfect for
costume or regular usage. Price varies by the clerk 2 for $.25 to 1 for
$.50 with the occasional discount for bulk purchases.

Fabrics and Findings: Rochester, NY, two locations; the downtown
location is rumored to have a larger selection. Huge warehouse of many
mill end and/or flawed materials at discount prices. Very large
collection of upholstery fabrics upstairs at heavily discounted prices.

Patchworks: 126 E. Main, Bozeman, Montana 59715, (406) 587-2112 carries
reproduction vintage cotton fabrics. I quote from their Fall, 1993,
catalog: "There are currently over 600 bolts in our reproduction
department which span all three time periods: Pre-1890's,
Turn-of-the-Century, and the Depression Era. These fabrics are ideally
suited for antique quilt repairs, reproduction quilt making, or vintage
clothing."

I'm sorry that I am not able to provide accurate acknowledgements and
email addresses for some of these recommendations.

4) What about Civil War era stuff?

The following is from Dave Uebele (daveu@cisco.com):

Contacts from 3rd U.S. Artillery newsletter "The Cannon's Mouth", NCWA.
Sorry it's sketchy, but this is what it included that seemed helpful:

Abraham Lincoln Book Shop
(312) 944-3085

Alabam Trust CSN & Marine
011-44-273-400-508
- UK Re-enactment.

The Artillery Shop
(601) 323-2606
- Gear Equipment.

Artilleryman, The Magazine
(617) 646-2010

LL Bean
- The best Long Johns!

Border States Leatherworks
(501) 361-2642
-Saddles, harnesses.

Bounty Arts
011-44-8043-3900
- Brass Lanterns.

Coonie's Inc.
(505) 393-0166
- Black Powder Supplies.

Cumberland General Store
(800) 334-4640

Chuck & Anita Fulks
(408) 728-1888
- Fall Creek Sutlery.

C & D Jarnigan
(601) 287-4977
- Large Sutlers.

Old Suttler John
(607) 775-4434
- Sutlers.

Past Patterns
(616) 245-9456
- Period Patterns (see listing above).

Paulson Brothers Ordnance
(715) 263-2112
- Ammo, Iron, Cartridges.

Prussian Press
(614) 654-3630
- Pamphlets and Periodicals.

Quartermaster Depot
(516) 472-3505
- ACW Boxes and Cr.

Quartermaster Shop
(313) 987-4127
- Uniforms ACW

Regimental Quartermaster
(215) 672-6891
- Sights, etc.

Steele's Muzzleloading Supply
(501) 778-4459
- Powder.

Other places for miscellaneous items to round out a historic costume:

Black powder/Muzzleloading supplies:

These places focus on muzzleloading gun equipment, but do have sections
for clothing, tents, personal items, patterns, and miscellaneous camp
equipment. Big catalogs, lots of interesting stuff, very useful if you
want to do muzzleloading shooting or build/repair guns, but good
collection of miscellaneous items to go along with the black powder
shooting.

Mountain State Muzzleloading Supplies
(800) 445-1776

Dixie Gun Works
Gunpowder Lane
Union City, Tennessee 38261
(800) 238-6785

Here is alternate source to Tandy Leather for leather working supplies.
I think their quality is better, and I have been quite impressed
with how quickly they process orders. They have a western bias (lots
of saddles and cowboy type information).

The Leather Factory
Fort Worth, Texas
Several Nationwide Toll free numbers, By state:
Arizona (800) 432-7732
California (800) 999-7371
Colorado (800) 525-8134
Iowa (800) 247-5566
Missouri (800) 888-1993
New Mexico (800) 327-6606
Pennsylvania (800) 233-7155
Tennessee (800) 251-7782
Texas (800) 433-3201
Utah (800) 448-9250
Washington (800) 822-8437

Another source is magazines devoted to different time periods. These
come and go too fast to list, but even the most trendy touristy type
historical magazine is likely to have ads in the back for different
types of historical items. It's worth investigating, and if you find a
good resource, pass it back to this list.

Also, check with local historical sites or re-enactment groups. They
probably have additional (and hopefully local to you) resources.

NOTE: Mail to this address bounces. Does anyone have
an up to date address for this??
There are several re-enactors on the net. Check the newsgroup
soc.history. Also, caina@merrimack.edu (Alex Cain) is trying to put
together a re-enactors mailing list. Should be a good resource if/when
it happens.

I don't mind answering questions or talking to people about sewing and
leather work for 1850 - 1900 costuming, and willing/interested in
branching to different time periods and different type of work. I tend
to focus on heavy materials construction techniques, but also do men's
clothing. -Dave Uebele (daveu@cisco.com)

5) How about information on Seminole War re-enactments and frontier costuming?

This section contributed by:
Michael Brown 4/21/92

I am part of a group in Florida which is involved in re-enactments of
Seminole War (1830s) battle. We 'play' the Seminoles. We do research
and strive to re-create as accurately as possible the clothing worn by
the Seminoles in the 1830s. Recently one of our members put together a
book containing instructions on how to create a Seminole Men's costume
of this era. Much of this information would be of use to people trying
to recreate Creek and other Southeast Indian styles of that period. We
also organized into an informal society and publish a pretty good
newsletter filled with information on this topic.

As for addresses:

To order the _Seminole Men Clothing_ book send $12 to:
Rick Obermeyer
2124 Miscindy Pl
Orlando, FL 32806

Our group is FIRES, the Florida Indian Re-Enactment Society.
To join it's $5 which gets you a bimonthly newsletter.
To do so, write to:
David Mott
2710 Fountain Cir #201
Naples, Fl 33942

There is another source of historical costuming information,
particularly American frontier, buckskinners, traders, etc., in a series
of books put out by Muzzleloader Magazine. They are titled _The Book of
Buckskinning_ and there are about 7 of them.

6) Tips for making authentic historic costumes from modern supplies.

Tom Apple and several other readers offer the following advice:

For those of you who make reproduction historical clothing, I have a few
tips for you. I've made clothing ranging in periods from 800 AD to 1865,
some of which were for museums and interpretive programs. I've learned
a few guidelines that aid in producing high quality, and highly
authentic, period garments.

1. Always use natural fiber fabrics or mostly natural fiber blends.
2. Always pre-shrink your fabrics (except silk) prior to using.
3. Never use cotton in pre-18th century clothing, references to
cotton in these periods usually denote a type of wool.
4. Often the colors of commercially dyed fabrics are too bright
to look like naturally dyed cloth, so additional washing or
dyeing may be required to tone down the colors.
5. If using an untried or dubious pattern, make a mockup of the
garment using muslin or an old sheet and make adjustments to
the fit and cut to suit. Disassemble the mockup and use as your
pattern.
6. Machine sew only the construction seams and hand sew all visible
stitching, buttonholes, and lacing holes on pre-1850's clothing.
On 1850-1880 clothing, hand sew the buttonholes and hand top
stitch only on confederate or country type clothing. If the
cloth has a coarse weave and is prone to ravelling, machine
sew the buttonhole once around then handstitch over top with
button and carpet thread of the same color.
7. Also, when selecting fabric, make sure the weave is of a period
style. Colors other than black and sometimes blue should have a
slightly mottled or speckled look to them.
8. If at all possible, inspect original garments of the period
to get a feel for the stitching, construction, and fabric.

Hopefully these tips will prove useful. You would be amazed at how
observant the public can be on minute details of clothing and uniforms.
I've often had people comment on hand stitched buttonholes and the like
when doing historic interpretation. Details like these add to your
credibility as a historian. Making your clothing right the first time
will save you money on progressive upgrades.

Regarding suggestion 3), Donna Holsten adds the following:

Cotton, although rare, was used in Europe in [medieval/Renaissance]
periods. It was usually used in combination with another fiber (wool or
linen)--so cotton broadcloth would not be appropriate for use in early
garb, but cotton as a fiber would be. It would be used only in very
fancy outfits--worn by *very* rich people. I like to parallel its use
in medieval/Renaissance Europe with the use of linen in modern America--
it's available, but not widely used and not inexpensive.

and Tom added the following additional comments:

The main reason I recommended avoiding cotton for pre-18th century
clothing is that most cotton available today is not like cotton fabrics
available then. I have a book called _Arts of the Anglo-American
Community in the Seventeenth Century_, a Winterthur Museum conference
report of 1974. In an article on Textile Trade in Boston, 1650-1700, by
Linda Baumgarten, it contains a glossary of fabrics. The cotton related
fabrics are as follows:

Cotton: a woolen fabric with long nap, which gave a soft, fuzzy
appearance. Kendal Cottons, Manchester Cottons, and Welsh cottons, named
for place of manufacture, were well known woolens. Inventory references
to cotton bedsheets mean Indian cotton or a cotton and linen mixture.

Other cotton (India) fabrics mentioned are: Calico, Rumal, Vermilion,
and Cotton-Linen (linen warp)

Generally the cotton I see people use is inappropriate stuff like
broadcloth, sport cloth, and cotton corduroy (Cul Duroy). For most
clothing linen is much more accurate to use. I concur that cotton was
used pre-18th century, but by very few people, and those who did were
quite wealthy. I'm sure the cotton then looked a lot like the linen
did.

NOTE: A dissenting opinion was sent regarding the derivation of corduroy:
"Cul Duroy" or "Cul du roi" means, when translated from the French,
"The king's backside"

7) Administrative Note: historical authenticity, reproducing patterns and SCA

(i.e. disclaimers)

People reading this FAQ have many different standards of historical
authenticity. Some readers are interested in costumes to use for social
events. Others need reasonably accurate historical costumes to use in
theater productions. Many readers are members of recreational groups
that demand various levels of authenticity. A few readers are scholars
doing serious research.

Since I do not have the expertise to judge the sources in this FAQ, they
cover a wide range of historical authenticity. When knowledgeable
readers have commented on the authenticity of a source, I include their
comments. Occasionally readers provide conflicting comments which I
attempt to reproduce. Serious scholars should use the FAQ only as a
general starting guide....... or better yet check with a textile
historian at your local college or museum.

Similarly, the patterns available from sources in the FAQ require a wide
range of textile skills. Many sources require pattern drafting skills.
When readers tell me they have had significant problems reproducing
garments from a source I try to include their comments in the FAQ.

Lara J. Fabans lfabans@adobe.com

8) Acknowlegements.

I used to have a listing of people, but it just got to
be too huge. So thank you to everyone who has sent in
information. And thanks in advance to all of you who will
send in information.

9) Where can I get an up to date copy of this FAQ?

There are three textile related FAQs that I maintain. The first concentrates
on general sewing questions and supply information and restoring antique sewing
machines. The second list concentrates on costuming and historical clothing.
The third posting contains a list of books that cover sewing, fitting and
pattern drafting.

There are other FAQs available. Please post a query to the newsgroup
asking about them. Not all are archived on rtfm.mit.edu.

When looking for an FAQ list, first do the obvious and check the relevant
newsgroup for articles with "FAQ" in the subject line. If you don't know how
to check articles marked as read, your sysadmin can tell you. Next, try the
group news.answers since this FAQ is crossposted there. Again, your sysadmin
can tell you the commands to use in searching.

If you cannot find the FAQ on your system, you can retrieve a copy from
Jonathan Kamen's archive of periodic postings. For general instructions on
the server, send email containing the commands "help" and "send index" (no
quotes, separate lines) to
mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu
For a list of all periodic postings that are archives in news.answers, email
the command "send usenet/news.answers/index" to the server.

via anonymous FTP:
Periodic postings including FAQs are archived at "rtfm.mit.edu" in the
directory "/pub/usenet". The textile FAQs are:
/pub/usenet/news.answers/crafts/textiles/faq/part1
/pub/usenet/news.answers/crafts/textiles/faq/part2
/pub/usenet/news.answers/crafts/historical-costuming
/pub/usenet/news.answers/crafts/textiles/books/part1
/pub/usenet/news.answers/crafts/textiles/books/part2
/pub/usenet/news.answers/crafts/textiles/books/part3

via email server:
The address of the server is mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu. To retrieve files,
send email to the server with a blank subject and one or more of these lines
in the body:
send usenet/news.answers/crafts-textiles/faq/part1
send usenet/news.answers/crafts-textiles/faq/part2
send usenet/news.answers/crafts-historical-costuming
send usenet/news.answers/crafts-textiles/books/part1
send usenet/news.answers/crafts-textiles/books/part2
send usenet/news.answers/crafts-textiles/books/part3

via WWW:
An html'ized version is located at:
http://www.jcave.com/~dybitter/faqs.html

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