Patterns of Fashion: The Cut and Construction of Clothes for Men and Women C1560-1620

Ms. Arnold's work was always based upon extant garments. This has always meant a limit to the work to those garments that survive through time, which tend to be those of the wealthy. This is even more evident in this work as the extants that survive from this period are spread geographically from England, to Germany, to Italy. This is not a negative statement, just something one must keep in mind when working with this book. The volume starts, as all those in the PoF series do, with a great deal of research and a number of photos and illustrations (black and white). Some of these garments in the research portion of the book are then presented as gridded drawings in the second portion which the reader can then use a 1" grid to generate full sized pattern pieces. Though the book cover shows women's garments, I would actually say this volume has a stronger representation of men's garments as there are a greater number and variety of those garments than women's clothes. Even so, this is absolutely an essential volume for any fashion historian, costumer, or reenactor.

This is a beautiful book and much more informative than I hoped. Can I do any or all of these patterns? Yes, I can. But I am 69 years old and have been sewing by hand and machine since I was 12. If you are a beginner and you have a interest in the construction of historic garments, this is the book for you! If you want to make some garment from the past and have no experience or little experience in pattern making, alterations, fitting this may be a book that brings you joy and inspiration to learn more. But if you looking for a halloween costume that you can whip up between now and this coming halloween party, that is not going to happen. I am grateful for this book. It is very well written, illustrated/imaged, and has sparked many ideas for me.

This book is fabulous and well worth the price. Was able to use with the DETAILED drawings she provides of all the outfits she personally reviewed in museums to create both a man's doublet and Elanor of Toledo's gown, to my measurements. With the drawings on a 1 square = 1 inch it was fairly easy to up-size and play with the design elements to make them fit. The historical notes are wonderful as well on the design elements and the garment's histories as well. This book is a treasure. Seriously thinking about ordering some of the others in the series.

As someone who participates in the SCA, this book is fantastic if you want a resource for information on late-period garb. A laurel recommended the book to me, so I found a .pdf copy to look over. After seeing how valuable the contents would be for me, I HAD to have a copy! I fight rapier, so this is going to be a great help in making garb appropriate to that period. The book focuses primarily on outerwear like doublets and jerkins (when it comes to clothing for men), so if you're needing something for shirts, hats, etc, check out Patterns of Fashion 4.Note: The book shipped to me is printed as "Patterns of Fashion 3"... after a LARGE amount of initial distress that I had been shipped the wrong book, I noticed that the contents are all the same as "Patterns of Fashion" (but COMPLETELY DIFFERENT than "Patterns of Fashion 1") and the ISBN number matches as well. I still wish I had been shipped the original "Patterns of Fashion", but I suppose there's not much that can be done about that, especially since the ISBN is the same.

Good period pattern books are extremely hard to find but Hunnisett and Arnold are the absolute best! This book includes up close black and white images of historical costumes and extensive notes on the patterns for accurate construction. This book may be intimidating for those barely beginning in costume making. But nevertheless a must have for a serious costumer!

Enthralling illustrations effectively re-construct garments known from paintings and some actual specimens. Still further illustrations show the needle-and-thread, the embroidery, and the layers of the process of getting dressed in this epoch. Withal, Arnold shows the idiosyncrasy of individuality and taste expressed while pushing the boundaries of technology. Fashion glows. I have no plans to try any of these patterns and sewing tips at home, but the drawings and captions clearly show how I could; This book is one of a series of books by Janet Arnold covering centuries. (Duplicate review for both volumes that I purchased).

As usual Janet Arnold's attention to detail in her books does not disappoint. This book I was a little disappointed in having bought the book on accessories first, I was expecting to see full color pictures like that book. This must have been written earlier when they had a tighter budget...no color pictures. Still though, many details and black and white pictures. The patterns are very useful and the book will work for my project.

If you are looking for both information and historic patterns the Janet Arnold books are very good. We actually created costumes based on patterns from her books in one of my costume classes in grad school. The one thing we discovered is that the sizes are based on body types from those periods which were much different from today (we tend to be bigger boned these days) so we had to resize the patterns but they turned out very well and the information she provides with detailed images is excellent! I have used this for making costumes and in writing papers and articles.