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The descriptions of the garments are detailed and include information about the fabric, sewing techniques and alterations that the garment underwent. They are accompanied by black-and-white photographs showing the whole garment and various details. These seem to be geared towards a an experienced costumer, whereas at least a part of the additional topics seem to be written more for a costuming novice or even a juvenile person. This makes for somewhat uneven reading. The general layout with many illustrations, line drawings and fancy borders aroud some texts, the lack of proper footnotes (there are some endnotes but these are not indicated in the text) and the absence of a bibliography also contributed to my impression that the authors deliberately avoided an academic or professional look.
That said, the scope of the patterns presented is excellent, there are patterns to make up three women's gowns from different decades, a jacket, a shortgown and petticoats so that clothes for women from different social strata are presented. The number of men's clothes is somewhat more restricted but includes one unusual item, the stock (a predecessor of the modern necktie). Undergarments and cloaks are also included so that one see what a complete outfit would have consisted of. I also liked the idea of including quilting patterns for the petticoats and a design for the knitted pattern on the stockings. Altogether a good book both for beginning and experienced costumers and for everybody who just wants to see "what people wore back then".
Patterns would need to be altered for 20th/21st century figures (our posture is all wrong!), but in general they give the general size/shape/shaping required to achieve the desired result. Couple this book with Avril Hart's "Fashion in Detail" (now being published in paperback) and you have an excellent start on how to look authentic for the period.
