Bøker av Susan North

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

This breathtakingly detailed book presents dress patterns, construction details, embroidery and making instructions for fifteen garments and accessories from a seventeenth-century woman's wardrobe. Full step-by-step drawings of the construction sequence are given for each garment alongside photographs of the objects and x-ray photography.

This book examines the role of linen undergarments in concepts of propriety and health in early-modern England. Acknowledging the difficulties in researching the habits of cleanliness in the past, particularly the unreliability of personal testimony for reasons of bias and modesty, the study sets out a methodology for researching aspects of bodily hygiene, first delineating in full what the advice was in both conduct and medical literature. By incorporating not only dress, social and medical histories, but also evidence from surviving clothing, the book serves as an example of an interdisciplinary methodology and a potential model for other histories of other "unspoken" subjects.

Presenting a wealth of new, bespoke imagery and building on the authors' unrivalled level of expertise, 17th-Century Men's Dress Patterns is a definitive resource for costume designers, fashion historians and students.

Book Two in the V&A's groundbreaking new series presents 17 patterns for garments and accessories from a seventeenth-century woman's wardrobe. Full step-by-step drawings of the construction sequence are given for each garment to enable the reader to accurately reconstruct them.