Dress Design: An Account of Costume for Artists & Dressmakers

Hughes, Talbot, 1869-1942Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.7

Word count: 205K words
Chapters: 21

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Dress Design: An Account of Costume for Artists & Dressmakers by Talbot HughesAuthor: Hughes, Talbot, 1869-1942,Language: English, Class: GT: Geography, Anthropology, Recreation: Manners and customs, Release Date: Jan 10, 2011

Editor's review

This is a costume-history monograph by Talbot Hughes, written for artists and dressmakers, systematically tracing the forms of dress and the origins of design. Its value lies not only in patterns for reference but in placing costume within its historical context, helping readers understand how styles evolved and how cut and ornament influenced each other. Readers seeking evidence for painting, stage, or vintage dress can use it as a reference work, consulting it chapter by chapter; general readers who simply wish to understand the changes in Western dress can also read it through as an introduction. The Project Gutenberg edition is an English-language e-book, so reading it requires some command of English; note also that it contains many historical costume terms, best understood alongside visual material.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Creatives in illustration, stage costume, or vintage dress design who need historical style references
Students of costume history or art history who wish to understand the evolution of Western dress
General readers interested in Western everyday and ceremonial dress before the Victorian era
Practitioners who need comparative reference material on English costume terms and forms

Not a good fit for

Readers with no English reading ability who wish to read a Chinese translation directly
Tailors who want only modern pattern-drafting formulas and garment-making steps
Readers expecting abundant high-resolution color images and a primarily visual reading experience

Reading tips

First read through the table of contents to build a framework by period or garment type, then select chapters relevant to your own creative work for close reading.
While reading, search for paintings or photographs of objects from the corresponding historical period to turn verbal descriptions into visual impressions.
Keep a notebook recording terms for pattern pieces, ornament, and fabric for quick reference in future design work.
There are many English terms; read the introductory chapters first to become familiar with the wording before moving on to detailed passages.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book suitable for readers with zero background in fashion design?

It can serve as historical background reading, but it is not a modern fashion design textbook. For beginners who want to understand the origins of styles and their historical context, the book is helpful; for learning practical skills such as pattern drafting and sewing, they will need to find dedicated textbooks to use alongside it.

What level of English is needed to read this book?

The original is in English and involves a great many historical costume and tailoring terms, so an intermediate or higher level of English reading ability is recommended. When encountering unfamiliar words, use a dictionary and image searches, reading alongside visual references rather than striving to read every word.

Does the book contain pictures or patterns?

The Project Gutenberg edition is primarily text; the specific illustrations depend on the layout of that e-book edition. Readers should not treat it as a purely pictorial volume and are best advised to read it alongside historical costume picture books or images of museum collections.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Hughes, Talbot, 1869-1942 Author · British · 1869–1942

Talbot Hughes (1869–1942) was a British painter who also devoted himself to the study of costume history. His representative work, Dress Design: An Account of Costume for Artists & Dressmakers, addresses painters and dressmakers alike, treating clothing as a historical subject to be documented and depicted rather than a mere album of styles for viewing. Judging from its title and intended readership, his approach was practical: it offered artists formal reference and gave dressmakers a basis for understanding the structure and evolution of historical garments. Public information about his life is limited; what can be confirmed is his British nationality, his dates, and this surviving work, the only one of his books held in our collection. The book nonetheless bridges costume history and art education and remains an introductory guide to Western historical dress.