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Two books I have been resourcing from (in addition to the multitude of web pages out there!) are "Medieval Costume in England and France: the 13th, 14th, and 15th Centuries" by Mary Houston, and "Medieval Costume and How to Recreate It" by Dorothy Hartley. Any opinions on these two books? [Betsy Marshal] Sorry to be late getting back on this! I recently acquired the Hartley book, and most of her reconstructed examples appear to be from theater/stage designs, so be aware that the appearance may be close to some of the manuscript illos, but the pattern/detail drawings are aimed at getting the "Look" as simply as possible. The original was published in 1931, so does not include the last 70 years of improved research and recent finds. That being said, if you want a decent appearance of medieval garb, you could do worse than to follow some of her examples- (N*rris leaps to mind.) most of the construction is rectangular, rather than fitted, and so will suit many body types over a wider range of size fluctuations than the closely fitted styles of later years. I hope this has been some help, Betsy (Planning at least one of Hartley's clerk's (over)robes for Pennsic- some of us Ansteorrans get a mite chilled that far north!) _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
