English Costume from the Early Middle Ages Through the Sixteenth Century (Paperback)

by Iris Brooke (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Comprehensive, profusely illustrated reference documents clothing styles of all classes—from loose-cut garments of 10th-century Anglo-Saxons to the splendid ermine-trimmed coronation outfit of Anne Boleyn in the 16th century, with special attention paid in all periods to such crucial details as footwear, cuffs, collars and hats. Includes important information about dress-making construction as well as notes on social customs of the period. 24 color plates.

Product Details

• Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications (November 2, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486412385
• ISBN-13: 978-0486412382
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #746,691 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Shallow Overview of Medieval Costume, July 16, 2001

By	medcostumer "medcostumer" (San Diego, California United States) - See all my reviews

This is probably a great book for the beginner, but if you are looking for either a serious study of medieval costume or a how-to, you will probably be disappointed.

This book goes into a lot of detail about medieval costume with little documentation to back it up. There are no tips on construction and no actual pictures. Instead, the author relies on romanticized line drawings of people in costume with the emphasis apparently on the people, rather than the costume.

Once again, however, if you are an absolute beginner with little to no knowledge of medieval costuming, this book is an economical way to catch-up. It has a very wide scope. I did not note anything blatantly wrong, and the drawings, unhelpful as they are from a construction viewpoint, do show the costumes in context and as they would actually appear on the (idealized) human form.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great place to start, September 27, 2004

By	Costume Geek extraordinaire (Albany NY) - See all my reviews

This book is pretty good to get a basic idea of shapes for each given period, but that's about it. Unfortunately there are no seams shown, and while it's a very small detail, there weren't cod pieces in most places where there should have been. Small, but very important, detail. None of the illustrations are original (photos or reasonably accurate drawings of sculptures, rubbings of engravings, etc.) and all have a sort of 1940s feeling to them which kind of detracts from the accuracy. The text part is pretty decent though, and if you use it for ideas in conjunction with a more construction-oriented book, you'll have a pretty good chance of making something accurate. Of course, if you're just looking for ideas on how to clothe a character in a book, it's great.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good children's costume books, January 2, 2003

By	Keri "Librarian" (Kentucky, United States) - See all my reviews

I have fond memories of checking out the original printing of these books from my local public library as a child. They placed these books in the children's section- for readers 8 and up. And I checked out those hardcover books over and over. Those books may have helped spark my lifelong interest in historical costume. Ms. Brooke's rendering of the costumes are very clear, and often they are presented in groups as if you were looking into a scene in a story or play. Excellent books for older children and young teens interested in costume history.