Libr 550 bibliography goodly Gear

Summary

Bibliography

Harner, James L. On Compiling an Annotated Bibliography. Rev. ed. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 1991.

Appendix A: Responses from Recreators

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  The original intent of the book (e.g. archaeology, theatre use, use for living history/recreation)
  
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  Whether the book itself is footnoted or makes its own sources clear.
  
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  Whether the book is illustrated, and if so, comments on the quality and usefulness of the illustrations
  
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  Whether or not the book includes instructions for recreating garments, patterns, etc.
  
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  Actual comments from those reenactors or recreators who have used the book.” [sclark@chass.utoronto.ca]
  

“Good annotations detailing the thoroughness of the author's documentation, and the quality and accuracy of any illustrations.” [yahoudi@eagle.cc.ukans.edu]

Appendix B: Types of Costume Books

An archaeologist writing up textiles finds from excavations will include descriptions of fragments of cloth, leather and metal dress accessories. The work will generally be accurate but incomplete, giving excellent detail about the thread-counts, stitching techniques and wear patterns of pieces of garments, but rarely an overview of whole garments or whole outfits. Works by and for museum curators and costume conservators share many features of works by and for archaeologists.

An art historian’s interest in costume is usually as a tool for determining the date and location of artworks. Art history costume resources are often used to support and explain theories by showing the development of different strands of fashion in given times and places. Art sources tend to have many illustrations of artworks, which can be more or less illuminating depending on the artistic conventions of the time under review, the detail recorded by the artist and the quality of the published reproduction. General art books—and especially books of portraits—are resources which give at least an overview of the appearance of costume, although it is important to watch for pitfalls such as the conventional representation of certain biblical characters and saints in clothing which is not necessarily contemporary with the painting.

A social historian is interested in what costume tells us about relationships, economics and the availability of products. Household accounts are the particular hunting ground of the social historian, revealing the amount of money paid for fabric or adornment, or the time required for the production of certain sorts of garments for people at varying levels of the household on a regular or irregular basis. Records of imports and exports of products used in clothing can reveal much about the economic health and international connections of a state. These works tend to be precise but sometimes not helpful, since there is often much speculation about the meaning of textile and clothing terms found in account.

Philologists share this speculation regarding terms, collecting words describing clothing from literature, chronicles and household accounts, and documenting their changes through time and place. Philology is usually a supporting discipline rather than the focus of an entire work on costume history. Philological work tends to produce dry but necessary building blocks which both underpin and question attempts to draw more rounded pictures of costume

Theatre costumers tend to seek overviews of costume which suggest practical ways of achieving the effects of period costume on a budget. Resources for theatrical costumers range widely in quality: some of the most useful resources for recreating costume fall into this category alongside some of the most misleading. Some works show historic cuts and patterns, while others suggest ways to modify present-day patterns to produce quick and easy costumes. Illustrations will often be redrawn from other sources.

General costume resources are the last major category, and again the range is considerable. Some of these works are pioneering studies which show a deep knowledge of the topic, while others rely entirely on secondary resources, and not always the most accurate ones. It is because some of these books so magnify errors of fact and artistry that this category has developed a poor reputation among recreators, and it is for the identification and avoidance of the errors common in this category that so much emphasis is placed by recreators on whether a work has redrawn illustrations and whether it identifies its sources. One of the aims of this bibliography is to identify those resources which—although commonly available—are not recommended for serious use.