Product Description

No one interested in the history of dress, from art historians to stage designers, from museum curators to teachers of fashion and costume, can function effectively without Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion series, published by Macmillan since 1964. Since her untimely death in 1998, admirers of her work have been waiting, with increasing impatience, for the promised volume devoted to the linen clothes of the Elizabethan and early Stuart periods, a companion to her previous volume on tailored clothes of the same era. Planned and partly prepared by Janet herself, and completed by Jenny Tiramani, Janet's last pupil, no other book exists that is dedicated to the linen clothes that covered the body from the skin outwards. It contains full colour portraits and photographs of details of garments in the explanatory section as well as patterns for 86 items of linen clothing which range from men's shirts and women's smocks, from superb ruffs and collars to boot hose and children's stomachers. Beautifully produced, it is an invaluable guide to both the history and the recreation of these wonderful garments.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5802 in Books
• Published on: 2008-11-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

About the Author

Janet Arnold was a historian of fashion, which combined her two greatest passions: the theatre and clothes. Her early books were conceived as aids for the fashion and theatre students she taught, but as her unique range and depth of knowledge became apparent, more and more museums and other institutions sought her advice and, today, her books are essential tools for the study of dress and have been used throughout the world. Jenny Tiramani was Janet's last pupil and during the first ten years of Shakespeare's Globe she worked with Janet's published patterns to realize accurate copies of the original garments and their accessories. Santina Levey is Janet Arnold's Literary Executor and a historian of fashion.

Customer Reviews

"Must have" for historians and historical recreators
This book is a really wonderful present for all costumers and especially for those who is familiar with excellent quality of Janet Arnold's books. Not only "Patterns of Fashion 4" has all the values of previous Arnold's publications, it has more!

As usual, the book is divided into 2 parts: theoretical and practical, latter including patterns and drawings of artefacts.

Just to point out some definite values - for one, there are very many color(!) photographs in theoretical chapter. It's possible to see any details of textile, embroidery, lace or simple seam. Also, theoretical chapter is 50% of book (which is more than in "PF 3") and material is well structured by clothing types - Shirts & smock (men's, women's), Neckswear (ruffs, bands, rebatos, pickadils, supporters), Headwear (coifs, hoods, nightcaps), Gloves, Hose.

Special attention is payed to embroidery, laces, cleaning, etc. Yet another value is traditionally good practical chapter with detailed instructions for sewing that are clearer and better than ever. For a bonus "Patterns of Fashion 4" has step-by-step instructions on "How to starch and set linen ruffs" completed with many photographs.

I'm very grateful to editors and co-authors of this book - Jenny Tiramani and Santina Levey - who continue work of Janet Arnold and have prepared this publication. I highly recommend "Patterns of Fashion 4". This book is worth every penny!

mmmmmm lovely
I love this series more than words can say, I use it constantly and the latest book does not dissapoint. There may be those in the world to whom the thought of ruff creation is not exciting. I am not one.
awesome.

great
it is a really interesting book, giving a lot of inspiration for those who create new designs