Avril Hart

Susan North

Frequently reprinted, occasionally under the title Fashion in detail.

The 17th and 18th Centuries

Historical Fashion in Detail

A rare, close-up look at the exquisite, labor-intensive details seen in fine eighteenth century clothing

18th-century Fashion in Detail

Examines with superb photography , the seams, decorative stitching, drapery, corseting, slashing and stamping that characterise fashion of this era.

Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century Fashion in Detail

Perfection is in the detail- decorative seams, exquisite stitching, knife sharp pleats and voluptuous drapery feature alongside more unusual techniques such as stamping, pinking and slashing. Many of the skills displayed have been lost to the modern world- such labour-intensive handwork is no longer done and these effects cannot be replicated by machine. Yet many fashion designers take their inspiration from the past, adapting ideas to a more contemporary idiom. Containing a gallery of exquisite photographs, accompanied by clear line drawings showing the construction of the complete garment, this book will appeal to anyone interested in historical costume and textile history, from cut and construction to fabrics and trimmings. Above all, its elegant design makes it an inspirational gift for lovers of fashion.

Sweet and Clean? challenges the widely held beliefs on bathing and cleanliness in the past. For over thirty years, the work of the French historian, George Vigarello, has been hugely influential on early modern European social history, describing an aversion to water and bathing, and the use of linen underwear as the sole cleaning agent for the body. However, these concepts do not apply to early modern England. Sweet and Clean? analyses etiquette and medical literature, revealing repeated recommendations to wash or bathe in order to clean the skin. Clean linen was essential for propriety but advice from medical experts was contradictory. Many doctors were convinced that it prevented the spread of contagious diseases, but others recommended flannel for undergarments, and a few thought changing a fever patient's linens was dangerous. The methodology of material culture helps determine if and how this advice was practiced. Evidence from inventories, household accounts and manuals, and surviving linen garments tracks underwear through its life-cycle of production, making, wearing, laundering, and final recycling. Although the material culture of washing bodies is much sparser, other sources, such as the Old Bailey records, paint a more accurate picture of cleanliness in early modern England than has been previously described. The contrasting analyses of linen and bodies reveal what histories material culture best serves. Finally, what of the diseases-plague, smallpox, and typhus-that cleanliness of body and clothes were thought to prevent? Did following early modern medical advice protect people from these illnesses?

Bodies and Clothes in Early Modern England

Sweet and Clean?

Anne Kjellberg

Queen Maud of Norway was renowned for her stylish dress. Daughter of Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, she was born a princess and became Queen of Norway in 1905. She had exemplary taste and a strong interest in fashion, and her royal lifestyle required appropriate dress for every occasion. Her wardrobe includes a range of stunning creations dating from her wedding trousseau of 1896 to the latest Worth designs purchased just months before her death in 1938. Queen Maud's clothes document an extraordinary era of fashion history, from the decorative but elaborate dress of the Victorian era to the streamlined chic of the 1930s: clothes for the modern working monarch. Her wardrobe encompasses the public and private like no other collection, from sumptuous state gowns and elegant evening dresses for official occasions to riding habits, winter sportswear, and simple tailored suits for afternoons in the garden with her grandchildren. Maud engaged with contemporary fashion throughout her long life, and commissioned many of the great designers of the day, notably, Worth, Blancquaert and Morin-Blossier. Her wardrobe illustrates the impeccable standards of couture dressmaking and tailoring of the period. Flawlessly beaded gowns, perfectly cut and hand-finished suits, beautifully embroidered and appliqued dresses all exemplify the superb workmanship of the era. Style and Splendour showcases some of the most spectacular garments now in the collection of the National Museum of Art/Museum of Decorative Arts and Design in Oslo, and sets them properly in the context of Queen Maud's life and times.

The Wardrobe of Queen Maud of Norway 1896-1938

Style & Splendor

This sumptuously illustrated book offers the first up-close view of the richness and variety of historical dress of the 17th and 18th centuries. Drawn from the Victoria and Albert Museum's world-famous collection, these garments display skills that are now lost, yet continue to inspire today's leading designers. Much of the finery seen here is too fragile to be on permanent display, or its detail too intricate to be captured in conventional photography. Jacobean blackwork, neoclassical tambour work, exquisite stitching, and knife-sharp pleats are pictured in stunning photographs, alongside such unusual techniques as stamping, pinking, and slashing--many of which are rarely employees in the modern world, as they require labor-intensive handwork impossible to replicate by machine. With line drawings showing the construction of the complete garment and a text that sets each in the context of its time, this book is a visual feast for all fashion lovers, and an essential resource for curators, collectors, students, costumers and designers.

From the 17th and 18th Centuries

Fashion in Detail

The Opposite of COMBAT brings parents the knowledge and skills necessary to help children of all ages navigate their own conflicts, collaborate to solve their own problems, deepen their sibling relationships, and develop trust and confidence in their decision-making abilities.

The Opposite of COMBAT: A Parents' Guide for Teaching Siblings How to Collaborate and Solve Their Own Conflicts

Jenny Tiramani

"Book two in the V&A's groundbreaking dress pattern series presents 17 detailed patterns for garments and accessories worn by seventeenth-century women. Full step-by-step drawings of the construction sequence are given to enable accurate reconstruction of the garments"--Cover.

Susan North

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