Tudor Costume and Fashion

Rating:
Summary: A Valuable and In-expensive Book for a Costumer's Library
Review: I have read in the following reviews of this book, that it is inaccurate and offers little in garment construction information. Let me say that I have found this book highly useful and refer to it frequently along with my Uffizi Museum book, National Gallery book, and Janet Arnold's: Patterns of Fashion. I bought this book originally from the Huntington Library giftshop. This book offers a brief overview of Tudor Fashion from all the most important countries and regions in Western Europe, English fashion of the time receiving the most attention. There is a brief section in the back on dyes and colors (mainly for England). The line drawings are all in black and white. There are historical quotes of descriptions of outfits worn at noteable occasions (Queen Margot of France, my favorite). The sections on Spain and Italy I found interesting. I particularly enjoyed the drawn cataloguing of jewelry, gloves, hats, shoes and swords for each country. There are even a few drawings of corsets and farthingales. I have found this book to be a good resource to add to my collection of research materials. If you have an eye for detail and the desire to experiment and or research further how things were made, you will enjoy this book. This is not a "how to", but a good idea book. I don't regret it.

Rating:
Summary: A very detailed book on costumes but on other wearables too.
Review: In doing my research for my persona as a Bard, I needed a book which would help me decide on what medieval clothing would be appropriate. Norris painstakingly gives the history of the entire medieval/rennaissance periods and what clothing was worn and by whom (nobility, peasantry, middle class). As well, he talks about (and shows) the variety of gloves, jewelery, shoes, hats, etc. A must have book for those who are developing a persona or cosutme creators who want detailed information or who need a idea boost for their creations. You wont be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: YAY! Someone did something right!
Review: OMG can there be a better source?! I have not run into a better book with pictoral and literal references for Tudor costume than this one. The pictures are outstanding. There are even diagrams for the more harder to find items, as well as accessories and behaviors for different classes of society. There are even color templates as well. A great reference. I highly recommend.

Rating:
Summary: Good Resource
Review: This book is a good resource for the serious historic costumer, and fun to peruse through for anyone who enjoys this sort of thing. The reason I do not say this is a good resource for any historic costumer is that not all of the information in here is completely accurate, and if you are trying to recreate an historically accurate costume (or write a paper on historic costume, etc...) you will need to know what things in here you can believe, and what you should be wary about. Many of the terms used to refer to articles of clothing are not terms in standard use in the costuming world today, and some of the information that Norris presents as fact has since been proven wrong. The only reason I still gave this book four stars despite all that I have previously mentioned is that the pictures are wonderful. I have never seen a book that has such a plethora of sketches of so many different things relating to costume. Girdles, headpeices, hair styles, articles of jewelery, embroidery motifs, and trim are all shown in more detail than one can usually see, even in full-page color photographs. Not many of the pictures are in color, but the colors used in the original portraits are described in the accompanying commentary. This book is a good supplementary peice of information, but be careful not to take everything in it as absolute truth.

Rating:
Summary: A value to anyone interested in Tudor & Elizabethian Fashion
Review: This book is a must have for anyone who is interested in fashion of the 1500s. It is the best tool I have found so far for Tudor fashions in most of Europe. It gives a great deal of information that is valuable to anyone who is recreating dress of the era. However, it does have some flaws. Norris tends to draw conclusions without giving reasons. Some of these appear to be incorrect. Also, there is a a profoundly English slant to information. Overall however, it is the best resource for Tudor fashion. For Elizabethian, "Elizabethan Costuming" by Janet Winter & "Patterns of Fashion : The Cut and Construction of Clothes for Men and Women C1560-1620" by Janet Arnold are better for the money.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty pictures
Review: This text and it's medieval counterpart have good images and are quite well drawn from the originals they are taken from. The problem is they are redrawn images, not the originals and so you do have to be careful if using this as a primary source book. The text is, in my opinion, dodgy and it's probably better for more reliable books to be used and use this for the pictures.

Rating:
Summary: Basics with an open mind
Review: This was my 2nd book from Norris and his style does take you back. If you read the introductions you see that it is a book about Norris as an expert sighting himself. What you get is a rambling sometimes difficult to follow read BUT... you also get an incredible amount of information on how his genire viewed the fashions. You understand how the myths for the period got started and why. You get visuals of all kinds. Men's,women,lace,braids, trims... they may not be in any order but...The plates,pictures and references can lead you to where you want to go on the internet or in the library AND give you all the inspiration you need to start something in your studio!I can't live without this one! Keep an open mind and study study study.