"Seventeenth-Century Women's Dress Patterns - Book Two" Edited by Susan North and Jenny Tiramani V&A Publishing, 2012 Hardback of 160 pages, ISBN 978-1-851-77685-6 In 2011, Arachne correspondence was generated by Book One of this series. Book Two is a continuation of studies of costumes and accessories in the V&A Museum. It will appeal to historians, re-enactors, costumers, and conservators. You have seen portraits of this period in the current Queen's Gallery exhibit/book "In Fine Style", and may want to learn more. Many have enjoyed the earlier research and pattern books produced by the late Janet Arnold, and you will realize this research builds on the foundation she established. Some of the garments and accessories featured in this book are ones she studied in the late 20th Century. Below is a sampling. A new 16-page analysis of a 1610-20 mulberry-colored Italian silk velvet gown from the Isham family includes a reconstruction of fabric parts that were cut away from the gown and recycled centuries ago. An explanation of detailed photos of small yellow silk threads scattered over the shoulders and down the fronts says they were used to attach two widths of spangled silver bobbin laces. It all becomes clear when the page is turned and life-size X-ray images clearly show remnants of metal laces inside seams that had been enclosed with some kind of applied decoration. 18 pages are devoted to 1660-80 salmon pink watered-silk stays thought to be Dutch, as shown in portrait details of two Dutch genre paintings of the period. The 295 thin strips of baleen (whale bone) stays can be seen in X-rays. A separate stomacher from the same materials is stiffened with 59 more strips of baleen, plus 7 horizontal strips across the top. Laced in the front, instructions are given for tying the knot used at the top of the stays. 16 pages are devoted to a 1595-1615 blue linen supporter for a starched band (collar). The linen covered a cardboard shape, reinforced with metal.. This style of prop rested on the shoulders. Photos show how this was attached at the back of a gown. Wire used to reinforce the shape can be seen in X-rays. Another type of prop was called a picadil. The 1600-15 one shown is from the Isham collection, and is covered with ivory silk satin. As with all items, relevant art is shown, color photography is used, and X-rays shown, in addition to many drawings to illustrate construction details and pattern layouts. Three pairs of 17th C. shoes have been selected for special attention of reconstruction experts. A green velvet pair of chopines are lavishly d ecorated with gathered gold metal bobbin lace. *Earlier this year, this reviewer received a critical letter from a very knowledgeable lace expert about Book One, in which quite a few drawings of lace patterns were given. It seems appropriate to share with you that some of the bobbin lace patterns are totally unworkable. This is a warning to all lace makers to rely on our proven lace experts.* If you wish to make good period laces, there have been many published patterns through the years. Recent reliable books featuring laces of this period are Rosemary Shepherd's "An Early Lace Workbook - Bobbin Lace Techniques before the Baroque"; and the series of small books Gilian Dye has written: 1) "Elizabethan Lace", 2) "Gold & Silver Edgings - 16th & 17th Century Lace", and 3) The Isham Samples and Other Linen Edgings - 16th & 17th Century Lace" (all of which have been reviewed on Arachne). Jeri Ames in Maine USA Lace and Embroidery Resource Center
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