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How can the cut of a 19th century gown control its shape? Can you re-create a historic profile from a contemporary mannequin? How can paintings help you analyse historic silhouettes and the corsets and petticoats worn underneath? Conservation and historic dress display specialist Janet Wood will help you answer all these questions. You'll learn how historic garments can be safely handled and shown to best effect, with insight into the characteristic features of each piece and how to translate them from the garment to a display support.Concentrating on Western women's wear from 1750–1950, and with over 250 colour images, plus drawings and charts, you'll learn how to interpret an individual garment's display needs and create safe, appropriate display forms.

Sick of cheap, wasteful, disposable fast fashion? Learn how to shop for vintage clothing and accessories and build a more sustainable, stylish closet. In this indispensable guide, anyone who buys or wears women's clothing will learn how to:• Avoid overpaying• Sort trash from treasure• Fix minor flaws—and spot major ones• Find your ideal silhouette (including tips for plus-size shoppers)• Alter and repurpose garments• Care for delicate vintage fabricsBuying older clothing means getting beautiful pieces that are built to last, without contributing to sweatshops or landfills—but only if you know what to look for. Let a vintage clothing expert guide you to ethical fashion bliss!Previously published as The Little Guide to Vintage Shopping in 2009, this updated edition includes a new introduction and resources for evaluating online and brick-and-mortar shops.

From the elegant bias-cut gown to the light and liberating day dress, this book looks at and celebrates the historic silhouettes, fabric cuts and contextual history of 1930s clothing. Equipped with instructions, patterns and enchanting photos, it explores the history of 1930s fashion, and explains how to make a range of versatile thirties inspired garments. It takes ten examples of 1930s garments, ranging from a lingerie set to a heavy coat, to create a capsule collection. The patterns are taken from original 1930s garments, with each piece being carefully measured and the patterns scaled down accordingly. Step-by-step instructions for making each garment are complemented by close up photographs of historic details and decoration. A beautiful and practical book, it will inspire designers, dressmakers and lovers of vintage fashion who want to express themselves through timeless and elegant style. Explores the history and context of 1930s clothing styles, cuts and designers, to give a full understanding of how fabric was manipulated to create figure-hugging silhouettes. Superbly illustrated with 443 colour images and 29 patterns taken from original 1930s garments.

Providing a critical insight into the growth of the secondhand luxury and vintage fashion industry, this book offers a compendium of business developments from across the globe, including examples from Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The ‘pre-loved or pre-owned'clothing trade has grown as an economic entity, providing a living for over 100,000 people and creating a desirable and essential clothing source in under-developed economies. By debating and deliberating contemporary cases, the authors illustrate how companies can optimise key managerial activities surrounding product branding, location marketing and supply chain buying. This timely collection is an important read for anyone involved in fashion, but particularly those interested in the retail and marketing perspective of the industry, as it explores an emerging and significant retail format.

In this second volume of Stays and Corsets, Mandy Barrington continues to create historical patterns for a modern body shape. This book contains all new corset patterns with a range of silhouettes that span over 300 years, from the late 16th century to the early 20th century. The corset patterns are generated from an original historical garment and have been designed for a wide range of female figures and sizes. The technique of flat pattern drafting your stays or corset will enable you to change the shape of the wearer to create an authentic historic silhouette. All calculations have been worked out for the reader and are provided in easy-to-read tables, which avoids extremely difficult, time-consuming and inaccurate re-sizing of historical patterns. Some prior knowledge of pattern drafting is helpful; however, each pattern has step-by-step instructions supported by clear diagrams that will take you through each stage of the pattern drafting process. The final result is an accurate period stays or corset pattern for your model.

Nothing epitomizes the look of the 1950s more for women than the hour-glass silhouette of the tightly fitted bodice and full skirt. This ubiquitous style - first introduced in 1947 with Dior's New Look - was so widely adopted by the mid-50s that it came to define the decade. This practical book introduces and explores the styles and construction techniques used in the 1950s. Step-by-step instructions and photographs demonstrate how to achieve a well-finished and authentic look using equipment easily obtainable at home. Chapters explain the processes from fabric selection, cutting out and preparation through to garment assembly using traditional techniques for creating the silhouette of the day. There are photographs and analysis of original pieces from private collections and museum archives and scaled patterns that have been standardized to a modern size 12 and can be graded up and down in size. With patterns and instructions for making your own bullet bra and girdle, each project includes a materials and equipment list and a section on specialist stockists and suppliers. Additional chapters include practical advice on measuring and fitting, and how to create the 1950s look. Aimed at students, teachers of costume, re-enactment societies and costume designers for TV, theatre and film and superbly illustrated with 300 colour photographs and 14 patterns.

The'roaring twenties'were exciting years for women's fashion. The iconic image is of the young'flapper'dancing the night away in a sparkling dress with fringes and tassels moving to the beat of the Jazz age. But, for all women in the post-war years of the 1920s, there was a new freedom in fashion as hemlines lifted and waistlines dropped. The simplified silhouette caused a boom in home dressmaking as women with basic sewing skills used tissue paper patterns to run up a new frock in the latest style. This practical book explains the background to these years and the trends in women's fashion, before introducing a range of garments that women would typically have worn. Suzanne Rowland gives a unique and detailed account of how to make vintage 1920s clothes for women based on the dress collections at the Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove, and Worthing Museum and Art Gallery. Fifteen detailed projects for garments and accessories include a pair of fashionably daring beach pyjamas, the wedding dress of a bride from East Sussex, and a simple striped frock suitable for wearing at a British seaside resort. Each project includes a detailed description of the original garment with an accompanying illustration alongside photographs of the original pieces. Scaled patterns are included with a list of materials and equipment required. Step-by-step instructions and close-up photographs are given for each stage of the making process with information about the original techniques used. Superbly illustrated with 314 close-up colour photographs.

Stays and Corsets: Historical Patterns Translated for the Modern Body goes a step beyond traditional historical costuming texts by not only providing you with historical pattern diagrams and information, but by showing you how to adapt these patterns to the contemporary body shape. Using her original pattern-drafting system, author Mandy Barrington will show you how to draft a historical pattern for a modern body shape, while still retaining an accurate historical silhouette. Each pattern has been generated from an original stay, corset, or pattern taken from a historical garment. The instructions to follow these new patterns are designed to accommodate any size of female figure, allowing you to avoid extremely difficult, time consuming, and inaccurate historical pattern re-sizing Requiring only basic prior knowledge of pattern drafting, all calculations have been worked out for the costume maker and are provided in simple tables accompanied by easy-to-read, step-by-step diagrams that clearly show how the historical pattern is plotted onto the female basic block, coupled with photographs of the constructed stays and corsets.

The next book in the successful Style Me Vintage series is designed to inspire re-enactors and all those vintage aficionados who admire the classic looks of the 1940s. This beautiful and accessible book looks at how to source and put together 1940s outfits – from how to create the elaborate hairstyles and how to apply the correct make-up to sourcing the right accessories and authentic clothing, even undergarments. Featuring beautiful original photography, as well as inspirational vintage images, this beautiful book offers plenty of tips on getting the details right. Whether you are a fan of the make-do-and-mend looks of the wartime years, or a latter-day glamourpuss wishing to emulate the New Look styles of the post-war era, this book will inspire.

From fashion boutiques to flea markets, the hunt for vintage clothing is on! With this savvy guide tucked in your handbag, you'll be ready to hit the streets. Vintage clothing offers couture quality at a fraction of the price. But how can you spot a Dior original in a rack stuffed with Little Black Dresses? Vintage-clothing dealer Melody Fortier demystifies the entire process so you'll know just what to look for, what to avoid, and what to pay. The Little Guide to Vintage Shopping shares insider tips for evaluating quality, selecting problem-free pieces, ensuring the perfect fit and silhouette, and caring for your unique finds.

Invite your nearest and dearest for a celebration¬—vintage style! Vintage bloggers Linda Hansson, Louise Lemming, and Emma Sundh reveal their secrets for throw the best parties, festivities, and fetes with a nostalgic twist. With this beautiful reference for hosting themed get-togethers, you'll create the right old-time atmostphere, play classic games, serve treats and cuisine with yesterday's pomp and flair, and best of all—you'll look the part! Get creative with:• Pompoms and balloons for a spring fling• “Air-mail” place settings for a'40s theme• Nautical cushions, placemats, and decor•'50s photobooth props and parlor games• Typewriter guestbooks for a Gatsby effect• And so much more to create your perfect retro look!Add to that make-up and hairstyles from yesteryear, tips on how to care for a vintage dress, and how to sew the perfect skirt or a festive bow tie. Plus, discover great recipes for modern updates on such time-honored offerings as homemade donuts, apple pie moonshine, cake pops, picnic sandwiches, and, of course, champagne.Packed to the brim with clever do-it-yourself creations from vintage and thrift store finds, Vintage Party is the retro-crafter's dream guide for throwing parties everyone will RSVP yes to. So toast with pastel lemonade—welcome to your vintage party!

Enjoy gorgeous projects that include hats, small and large shawls (circular, semi-circular, and triangular), scarves, and wraps - all inspired by traditional lace doily patterns. Lace-knitter Andrea Jurgrau shows how she creates her patterns, lifting or creating and adjusting individual motifs, then reworking and combining them into original, unique works of wearable art.Take knitted doilies to another level! Intricate, delicate, and from the past, Andrea readily acknowledges that you might not have a use for such items. In her book New Vintage Lace, you'll find a collection of 18 fully-charted projects that she has altered and adapted into fresh wearable accessories suited to more modern styles and tastes.Andrea shows you many particulars of lace knitting - explaining special stitches, how to read both charts and your own knitting, different ways of adding beads, and the importance of proper blocking. New Vintage Lace will take you beyond the current trends and leave you wanting more.