One word; stunning. This book's images literally left me breathless. For the costume historian there is a wealth of highly-detailed imagery of pleats, embroidery, buttons, spangles, lace, and whole items like gloves, stomachers, and vests. If the book has a fault, in fact, it is that there are too few photos of the whole garments from which these close-ups are taken, but the reader is given line-drawings to compare.
For those more interested in techniques, prepare to drool. There is a wealth of information here about stitching techniques, seam placement, boning, quilting, cording, slashing, pinking, stamping, knitting, blackwork, and more.
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| Woman's smock, English 1620s-1630s |
Clearly I cannot fail to recommend "
Historical Fashion in Detail: The 17th and 18th Centuries" to all lovers of historical costume as well as decorative techniques, and should you doubt my reasons for enthusiasm here are a few more photos just to tantalize you.
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| Stomachers, early 1700s |
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| Detail of glove beading, Engish 1603-1625 |
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