Cut My Cote (Paperback)

~ Dorothy K. Burnham (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 34 pages
• Publisher: Royal Ontario Museum; Illustrated edition (1973)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0888540469
• ISBN-13: 978-0888540461
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 8.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #81,838 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great as supporting documentation, December 20, 2002

By	Monica L. Kroger (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is an excellent source to get the flavor of clothing construction and how it changed from earliest times to the 1600. My only regret is that it shifts rather suddenly from 1200 to 1600 with no details in between and it spends a substantial portion of the book discussing early 19th century ethnic garments.

This book offers a good basis for someone looking to do more accurate historical re-creation. It doesn't necessarily offer patterns for clothes.. but it does offer a mindset that allows you to make more authentic choices when buying or constructing garments.

More than anything else, this book led me to the conclusion that the standard T-tunic (1 cut, 2 seams) only gives a convincing outline to early medieval clothes but was only rarely used in period(1 extant garment). The book gives convincing argument to the "rectangles, squares and triangles" construction method that seems to have persisted until the early 1300's when more fitted garments came into vogue.

This is a wonderful source to support historical supposition in your documentation and although it's not the first costuming book I would buy, I would definately recommend it as a fantastic resource.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars More of a Master's Thesis, March 14, 2003

By	E. Atkinson "xdaedalusx" (CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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While this book provides an excellent general overview and evolution of worldwide coat/shirt/kimono construction, it is hardly a detailed description of any one period or nation. But that is to be expected it is only 36 pages long. One of the reviewers must be referring to a different book as this one has NO DOUBLET PATTERN at all. In general as a reference it is interesting, as an instruction manual on the order of Janet Arnold it is not even close.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simple Elegance and Workable Patterns, Too, January 7, 2008

By	Eileen Corder (West Coast) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I treasure this little pamphlet on dressmaking and have used it many times to make my own clothes. Each garment description, which includes the kind of fabric used and any trim, is accompanied by a simple line drawing of the garment and a drawing of the layout of fabric showing the cut and/or fold lines. Each piece is then labeled to show where it goes in the garment. Essentially, Dorothy Burnham has taken apart these "coats" and made pattern guides, and it is quite amazing to see how each culture has adapted their cloth width to the cut and design of their clothes.

Other than the practicality of the patterns, there is an elegance about each garment. Simple, conservative of labor and cloth, and beautiful in their cuts and added trim, each coat is remarkable. By and large, the author describes clothing made from the WHOLE fabric, which in the past was done to conserve cloth as it was hand woven, a long, expensive and labor-intensive process.

If you are comfortable with making your own patterns, and if you are dealing with narrow width yardage, ex. Japanese kasuri, or expensive fabric that you just can't waste, then this guide book will help you to create some beautiful coats. There are 29 in all, from a Japanese kimono to a Macedonian long woman's shirt, from a man's English smock to a woman's chemise. The cover, a Hungarian cattleman's coat from the nineteenth century, with it's black broadcloth appliqué over white wool, is one of the most exquisite.