Textiles & Costume

Aiming to be a comprehensive encyclopaedia to every item a woman wears or carries and presented alphabetically in short chapters from accessories to zips. A wonderful and light-hearted step back in time to an era when the correct length of gloves, and how to wear alligator or mink were, to some at least, important considerations. Planning a country weekend, a ball or a cruise? This book is full of common sense, stimulating suggestions and reliable advice. 

Divided into chapters for each reigning monarch. a history of how English costume has evolved and changed in the nearly 800 years covered. Ranging from the elaborate dress of royalty and the aristocracy to that of labouring people. One particularly interesting sequence of chapters describe how dress changed from the flamboyance of King Charles I and the Cavaliers to that of the plain and monochrome Puritans under Cromwell; and then mostly back again after the restoration.

An extremely comprehensive guide to all aspects of dressmaking, containing hundreds of pattern diagrams which can be scaled up, with detailed instructions for doing so. The author had long experience working for leading fashion houses of the day.  Written at a time when women's fashion was changing for ever after WWII. This would still be a very practical guide for anyone wishing to re-create costumes of the period. It also remains a fascinating historical account.

Cecil Beaton's personal history of fashion and those who have influenced it in the first half of the Twentieth Century. Witty and wise, a most knowledgeable book about fashion and it's designers. Full of anecdotes and the authors own drawings and photographs.