After a Fashion: How to Reproduce, Restore, and Wear Vintage Styles [Paperback]

Frances Grimble (Author), Deborah Kuhn (Illustrator)

Product Details

• Paperback: 337 pages
• Publisher: Lavolta Pr; 1st edition (December 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0963651706
• ISBN-13: 978-0963651709
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,703,569 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Frances Grimble is the author of nine books on historic costume and needlework (one of which, After a Fashion, is in its second edition). Over 60 of her articles on sewing and vintage clothes have appeared in national magazines, such as Threads, Sew News, and Antique Trader Weekly. Ms. Grimble has been a how-to writer and editor since 1983. She has worked for book publishers, magazine publishers, and software companies; she has written a number of user manuals and coauthored a computer book. More, and detailed, information on her books is available on www.lavoltapress.com.

Ms. Grimble has substantial formal education in researching social history and in clothing design. In 1974 she began making historical reproductions for periods from the Renaissance into the 1920s; she tries to schedule regular sewing time in addition to that required by her writing projects. Since 1972, she has collected vintage clothing and accessories from the late 18th century into the mid 20th.

Ms. Grimble lives in San Francisco, California. She is married to a researcher/developer of artificial intelligence software. Her favorite pastime is reading, and her favorite fiction genres are fantasy and science fiction. She is also fond of historic costume dramas on DVD.

Ms. Grimble has no intention of posting a blog anywhere, because it deducts too much time from writing her books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book for use in real life, April 26, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: After a Fashion: How to Reproduce, Restore, and Wear Vintage Styles (Paperback)

I'm a swing dancer and I love this book because it tells how to deal with vintage clothes you actually WEAR! Some books seem to think everybody who buys vintage clothes is some kind of museum. Or that they're rich and only buy perfect clothes in fancy boutiques. This book gives instructions for real-life cleaning, mending, and altering to fit you (for men's clothes too). And how to work with vintage patterns to make your own repros. This book ROCKS!

48 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I wish I'd had this when I started costuming!, December 26, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: After a Fashion: How to Reproduce, Restore, and Wear Vintage Styles (Paperback)

Well-written, beautifully illustrated. The focus of this book is on reproducing historic costumes and restoring and wearing vintage clothing. It contains brief overviews of some of the more prevalent historical periods being re-created today (anything more detailed is not within the scope of this book -- this book encourages you to research the period you're interested in recreating). Ms. Grimble leads you through the different stages of creating your own historic costume, from planning to some basic sewing techniques. The second half of the book covers vintage clothing, from buying them to altering and mending the items. I'm more interested in creating historic costuming than in purchasing vintage clothing, but I found this part of the book an interesting and informative read! At the end of the book, Ms. Grimble lists sources of interest to the costumer or collector -- from books on period styles to dealers in vintage fashions. All in all, one of the most complete books I've ever seen on the technical side of costuming!

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very helpful book for collectors and costumers, April 23, 2005

By 

LifeboatB (Berkeley, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: After a Fashion: How to Reproduce, Restore, and Wear Vintage Styles (Paperback)

Note: my review is based on the first edition of this book.
I think this book is wonderful--the author has also written computer manuals, and so her directions are very clear. (Come to think of it, most computer manuals aren't that easy to understand--hers must be special!) The book covers a wide array of topics related to vintage fashion. I especially appreciate the segments on sewing techniques--she explains basic things that I haven't been able to figure out from other books, like how to lengthen a pattern, and more complicated techniques that are very helpful when dealing with vintage clothes, like how to replace a lining. The author includes a lot of helpful hints from her personal experience. The book is organized into different topics, so you can skip the ones that aren't relevant to your interests.