I must admit that I love all the books you have mentioned with the addition of A Tailor's Manuel from 1589 by Juan Alcega, translation by Ruth Bean. I did manage to gather up all the rest of the books available from David Brown books and they are spoken for or sold. However, I would be surprised if there aren't some available from SCA booksellers (I'm not one, I just love this particular book and want people to have it). There might also be perfect ones available from Ruth Bean (here on H-Costume) in England.
Once I figured out what in the world was going on with these original patterns, it's a book that I'd run into the flames to rescue along with Queen Elizabeth's Closet and Dress in the Court of Henry VIII. I'd probably burn to death because I'd keep trying to cram in one more book! Seriously, if you can get a copy of Alcega, as it's known in the SCA at least, I highly recommend it. The clothing I've made from it showed that the patterns are actually to scale, not just drawings of what the pattern piece should look like. Not to put the Tudor Tailor down, but I think I'd prefer the Alcega to it just because of the number of patterns. Then again, these are Spanish clothes of the middle class; however Spain was a lot like the Paris of its time as far as clothing was concerned in the 16th century. If you do go into things as a Pro. Be prepared to do a lot of figuring and planning first. One of the most common errors people make is pricing their time too cheaply. Materials can be costly. Trim can be costly (I have gowns where the trim cost more than the fabric and other items combined!), but you must value your time in a professional manner. You also have to treat it as a business. Business owners have friends, but they can't afford to sell something at cost very often. It can be hard to tell your best friend that the wedding dress she has drooled over all her life is going to cost her XXX amount if you do it. As an Amateur I can afford to spend time embroidering, pearling and generally making something gorgeous for a friend, but I have a real job that supports my hobby :-) Wanda > My question, if you could use 3 books for this (these) > eras, which would you buy? > > The ones I have in my cart are Jane Arnold's Patterns > of Fashion 1560-1620, as well as her 1660-1860, Jean > Hunnisett's _Period Costume for Stage and Screen, > Patterns for Women's dress 1500-1800, The Tudor > Tailor by Ninya Mikhaila, and Costume Close Up: > Clothing Construction and Pattern, 1750-1790 - Linda > Baumgarten. I also have a book called Fine Machine > Sewing and Susan Khalje's Bridal Coutoure book. Do > you have any other suggestions? > > _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
