Customer Reviews

Corsets and Crinolines

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book contains a lot of good information, but you'll have to search through pages and pages of quotes from contemporary sources to find it. The chapters are organized by type of garment, rather than by period, so if you're looking for a specific period you'll have to familiarize yourself pretty well with the entire book. Each section has a couple of pages of description and history, and then many pages of quotes. The most useful aspect of this book are the illustrations and patterns, which are rare to find elsewhere. The pictures are scattered throughout the book in no real order. There is an appendix with some very useful construction tips and instructions. Overall, a good resource for those interested in making period undergarments from the 1500's to the 1920's.

I had to use this book for my final project in my Costume Technologies class and I loved it! I made the 18th century woman's stays (1776) and they worked out wonderfully!

Warning, though: this book is not for people who cannot draft costumes. The patterns are in miniature and are original period patterns; in other words, they will not be sized for you. You will have to draft and make many a mock-up before you are ready to make the actual piece.

All in all, I love this book and intend to make even more of the pieces in it!

Not only does this book provide historical background on various undergarments (corsets and crinolines, as the title suggests), but it also provides the patterns to construct these garments. It is an excellent resource, and one I most definitely recommend to anyone building a costume library of their own.

I am a bit surprised by some of the so-so reviews of this book here because it is a fabulous resource!

This is a must have book for the serious costume historian. It contains great period and rare original source information. It also has the advantage of patterns and information on early corsets ect that other books (and pattern companies) tend to skip.

True, the patterns are not for the timid or novice seamstress. However I have successfully made up one of the 18th century stays with wonderful results. If you are serious about historical fashion or wish to make accurate undergarments make sure this resource is in your library!

This book is a MUST read for anyone interested in historic costume and undergarments! The wonderful research and illustrations make for interesting reading, and the corset blocks are wonderful for anyone interested in drafting their own corset patterns.

This is a neat book to just look at but to someone who has a background in costume it is a reference not to be passed up. The pattens, like almost all old ones, can be confusing and at times inacurate but with experience, they are easily adapted.

This book is the best available for anyone who wishes to make a corset or find the corset's place in history. It is absolutely filled with photographs, illustrations, scale drawings of patterns, and quotes from historical sources. A great read, and a valuable reference.

A well researched book with many hints on the lifestyle of those that lived in corsetted eras.

If you are looking for a book with a lot of history and background on both corsets and crinolines this book is very good. It has a lot of great photos and illustrations as well. If you are interested in corset making this is a "must-have" for your library.

I heard so much about this book - I guess I had to be disappointed! For starters, it's from 1954, so that was a surprise. The copy I had originally sold for $9.95 - that's about how much I'd pay for it. Some of the historical quotes get a bit tedious, epsecially the ones in french. It's not a bad book, but I've seen better. The patterns included in the book are definately for the experienced sewer (getting the patterns to size can be a real pain) - but that's a standard with these books.