Your Wardrobe Unlock'd

An outstanding primary source for the history nerd and dressmaking masochist. Ava begins to translate the directions for 21st c sewers!

Regardless of whether you've been naughty or nice this year, we've got lots of tempting ideas for your gift list, from tools to calendars!

What books would have influenced fashion choices for a lady of 1912? What dress advice would a "stout" lady have been given?

Looking for some last minute gift suggestions? Cathy reviews two new books from 2010: Fashioning Fashion and High Style.

We've gone through our links, pored over the bookshelves and searched for the best in books to help you create a masterpiece for the Natural Form Era 1876-1882.

We've got an awesome trilogy of ladies' tailoring books by Charles Hecklinger and his equally amazing trilogy of men's tailoring books.  

Having trouble getting a smooth fit to a cuirass bodice or Princess dress? We've found period  fitting guides with step-by-step pictures to guide you through the process.  Want to know what options women had for corsets and petticoats? Check out a mail order catalog from 1883.  And that's just the free stuff, not from a bookstore!

Marion's got all the books and resources you need to create an amazing ensemble for the Revolutionary period:

The Must Have books and the Nice-to-Haves; A 1785 French fashion magazine with men's and women's dress, hat and wig fashions; and much more!

 

 

This month on the Letters, Questions and Answers page we have:

Two requests for men's clothing articles (and the answer) Regency pinafores as seen in Jane Austen films: did they really exist? A free, globally available wealth of Regency fashion plates in full color What does Dickens mean by a "comforter" in A Christmas Carol?

Demystifying the most intimidating of supports: the history, the practicalities of moving in such a contraption, patterns and book references.

The era of Worth, Paquin and Doucet is long gone. But what was it like to be a wealth American woman traveling to Paris in the early 1900's, and visiting those houses to order a dress?

This month Marion shares excerpts from several Ladies' shopping guides to Paris where they discuss exactly what a lady should expect during a visit to one of the great houses, and what to beware of!

To the average American woman who visits Paris for the first time there is a glamour, surrounding the shops and the big dressmaking establishments.

She who would buy a French gown should first be sure that she knows how to wear one.

Who'd like a shelf full of free Victorian tailoring manuals? Yes, I knew that would prick up your ears! It's been a full year since Marion last shared a collection of dressmaking and sewing books. Inspired by Jason's series, she's been building another collection: mens' and womens' wear tailoring books from 1855-1886.

Looking for riding habit ideas? Searching for cutting instructions for a Norfolk jacket or a Newmarket skirt and jacket? We've got the answers here, in these complete digitised online copies of original Victorian books, ready for you to download and enjoy.

This month Marion McNealy shares with you some of the vintage corset making and fitting books that are online.

The books range from patterning and making an 1857 corset (perfect for the Single Pattern Project!)  to 1920's and 30's corsets, corselettes, brassieres, bandeaux and girdles. We've even got an excellent book from the 1950's for corset saleswomen on fitting a customer and making her feel at ease during the fitting process, still applicable to customers today!

Where would you start with an 1860s day dress, as in the 2009 YWU Single Pattern Project? With the underpinnings, of course!

Sunny Buchler talks you through every single item that our Victorian lady might have worn under her gown, with references to appropriate patterns from all sources - the big pattern companies, the small historical pattern companies and from books.

If you're into historical accuracy and you want to go the whole hog, here's your starting point!

This month we have a special treat!

YWU reader absintheskiss reviews Elizabeth Friendship's brand new book Pattern Cutting for Men's Costume.

The ten year wait for Janet Arnold's last work is over: Patterns of Fashion 4 is to be published on November 7th, and this month YWU is celebrating its release!

This extraordinary treasure trove, the final book in the series, has been completed with additional material by Jenny Tiramani and Santina M. Levey after Janet's passing in 1998. We've been smiling very sweetly at the publisher, and our grovelling has paid off with an advance copy. So Marion's ready to give you her exclusive review!

If you're an 18th Century costume buff, odds are you already have these.

But if you're just now falling in love with Rococo they should be at the top of your Christmas list!

 

 

 

 

Marion McNealy reviews several books on Medieval Era fashion and clothing.

Of course there's the must have Medieval Tailor's Assistant, but there are two others that you may not know about that she thinks you need to have on your library shelves.

Would you like to review a book for us? Drop us a line at info@yourwardrobeunlockd.com including your YWU username and what titles you'd like to review.

 

This month we have the pleasure of having an exclusive interview with Jill Salen, author of the new book "Corsets", which we are reviewing this month.

She shares with us what insprired her to write the book, how she got started and what her next book will be.

This month Cathy Hay reviews the new exciting new book: "Corsets: Historical Patterns and Techniques"  by Jill Salen.

The HEARTH  (Home Economics Archive: Research, Tradition and History) online library is devoted to books and journals published in the field on home economics.

It has a large variety of books on many different subjects, and I'll teach you how to get the most out of this valuable resource! I also share some of the books that caught my attention and a few favorite quotes.

As a seamstress, you may be happy to tackle just about any type of garment, but the thought of tailoring probably makes you feel a little faint and a lot intimidated.

Here are Cathy Hay's three favourite tailoring books that'll take away the mystery and show you the way, step by step, to beautifully tailored clothes both for you and for the gentleman in your life.