Customer Reviews

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

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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!

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!

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.

An excellent companion to a pattern book. Covers all aspects of costuming, creation, altering, and mending.

Best book I've found. Descriptions and illustrations for each historical period, as well as outfit planning, authentic fabrics, sewing and patternmaking tips, mending, restoring, and resources from A to Z -- books, websites, catalogs, periodicals... My #1 pick.

I thought this was a useful book on costuming. There are lots of illistrations and detailed info, such as what style of lace, or what patterns were popular/available during the periods. Good buy, very helpful!

I wish I had know about this book years ago ! Needless to say I'm going to order copies for friends too. The layout is clear and easy to follow. The topic covered are comprehensive. There is plenty of information given to progress your knowledge further. All in all a great addition to the historic costumiers library.

This entire series from Frances Grimble is the most astounding amount of compiled research we've ever seen! A valuable resource for costumers, re-enactors, history aficionados, or anyone wanting a comprehensive look at these fashions and the culture surrounding them.I purchased the entire set for my wife (costumer, historian...) and we were completely impressed with both the quality of the content as well as the layout and organization of the series.

Absolutely recommended...worth every penny!