Customer Reviews

Men's Garments 1830-1900: A Guide to Pattern Cutting and Tailoring

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

 

 

This book is the first book I turn to for period tailoring. The drafts create wonderful period shapes. It is invaluable to me as a costumer. It is a MUST HAVE in any serious costumer's library.

Please note that this book is for DRAFTING PATTERNS. It contains little information on how to tailor a coat. Pattern drafts are available for:
1. Dress Coats
2. Frock coats and Morning Coats
3. Jackets
4. Trousers, Pantaloons, and Knickerbreeches
5. Waistcoats (Vests)
6. Topcoats
(this list is taken directly from the table of contents)

So why not 5 stars?

The book uses the same sleeve or collar draft for several different coats. However, at the end of each draft, it doesn't tell you where the corresponding sleeve or collar draft is. It is irritating to have to go searching for it. It would have taken one little line of text referring to a page number. Someday when I have nothing better to do and a good chunk of time, I will go through and write in such information.

Additionally, the drafts don't always let you know exactly what you are drafting and how it relates to the body. Most of the drafts have a dropped shoulder line, for example, but you don't know how far it is dropped and are therefore unsure where to balance the sleeve.

It is hard to have the draft picture and instructions on different pages, which happens frequently. I will usually copy one or the other so I don't have to keep flipping back and forth.

I have a few suggestions which might make the drafts results better.

This book creates a draft almost solely based on the chest measurement, using fractions of the chest measurement in order to find certain distances. This works well on a well-proportioned gentleman. Beware, however, of using this draft straight-up for a man whose chest measurement is the same or smaller than their waist! Always check the waist when you are finished drafting. You may have to adjust.

Another suggestion is to go ahead and preemptively drop the lower armscye 1.5"! I have no idea how any man could look good with their coat bunching up in their armpit. R.I. Davis knows his stuff, but on this point he confuses me. You will be happy you don't have to re-draft the sleeve later. (EDIT: this suggestion only applies if you don't have the depth of armscye on your measurement sheet. When I do have that measurement, these drafts work well. When I didn't, the suggested 8.5" or so was just too short for every coat I drafted.)

I have used this book for a few years now and wouldn't go anywhere without it. It is available on and off from Amazon but it can be found elsewhere new for around $30. Contact me if you need more information.

There are so few books with patterns for menswear, and most of those are flawed. I'm sure I will find flaws with this book as well, but my first impression is extremely favorable. I purchased this book after several frustrated attempts to draft a well-fitting Regency dress coat. When the book arrived, I immediately started drafting the 1830 dress coat in the book. My model was very similar in measurements to the scale in the book, so I drafted without changing many of the given measurements. The directions for drafting were clear and easy to follow. The end result fit like a glove. By far the simplest and best looking coat I have drafted.

That said, this book is NOT for beginners. You need to understand sewing, tailoring, fitting, patterning, and what shapes you need for a period silhouette. As well, I expect that there may be trouble with the first draft of any garment intended for a man whose physique deviates from the norm. The book gives very limited information about what goes in to a tailored coat. The end user needs to have a fair amount of experience in order to translate the pattern to a good-looking finished garment, but the patterns themselves seem like a good starting point.

Looking through the other patterns in the book, I am excited to have access to such a wide range of menswear, and anticipate that I will reach for this book first when working on men's costuming.

This is a great resource. It is not for the beginner, and theater costume construction experience is helpful in order to understand the techniques
used in the book. Highly recommended.

Not exactly a reference book for historians, this is ideal for the costumer.

The patterns are complete and can be adapted to actors' bodies and one reviewer has already noted the variety of men's items: frockcoats, tailcoats, a variety of trousers (suiting different periods) with a small selection of reference photographs, portraits and fashion plates.

What are wanting in this book are the sources for the pictorial references. Not all the men pictured are noted in the captions (and some are very famous, such as poet Leigh Hunt)), nor are the sources for the images. In one image from the 1860s, a man obviously in mourning (from the wide band on his top hat, a member of President Lincoln's staff presumably after the assassination) is not stated as such. To overlook mourning dress in a book about 19th century clothing is an enormous oversight.

Also distracting are the rather poor line illustrations in the book. The human body looks stilted and the proportions are off. A more competent illustrator would have added more authority to this otherwise quite recommendable guide.

I borrowed this book from a fellow cutter to make late Victorian men's frock coats and trousers. I was so pleased with the final garments, I purchased the book for myself.
A good resource; the drafting information is easy to follow and the garments stitch together effortlessly. I did not need to grade the patterns I used, but it looks as if it'll be a piece of cake.
Get this book!