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Title: Medieval Costume and Fashion
ISBN: 0486404862
Author:
Herbert Norris
Publicate Date: 1998-11-30
Publish: 1998-11-30
List Price: $21.95
Average Customer Rating: 3.5
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $13.72
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $9.95
Amazon Merchant Price: $14.93
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Incredible book on the subject !
This is an excellent book with incredible artwork describing what people wore in the Middle ages from the Dark Ages to the Enlightenment. It breaks down each period by chapter and describes everything from shoes all the way up to headdresses worn by the ladies of court. Jewelry,clothing, cloaks, boots, hats, swordbelts, styles in each period and terminology. This is a must have book for stage costumers artists and writers. I love this book.
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2: Good source for Pre-Raphaelite clothing
I have this book at home. It's really a good source of information if you've ever wanted to recreate a dress from a Pre-Raphaelite Victorian/Edwardian era painting. (If you are making something for fun.)
For SCA use, check with other sources. It's a good starting point for an overview of styles.
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3: Do yourself a favour, wordsmith
Several reviewers have reported Norris's work as containing many inaccuracies. Be that as it may (and I don't have the time or inclination to research this, especially given the dearth of available clothing from this period), this book is an excellent source of inspiration for the fantasy writer.
"Fashion" may be in its title, however the book contains far more than that - lots of interesting tidbits such as heraldic devices, horse "furniture" (saddlery), information on various guilds through the centuries, types of fabrics used, names of colours, shoe sole patterns and jewellery - as well as a brief history on each century and those in power. The list could go on.
The book is set out in chronological order, and looks at all classes, from royalty down to the poor. The emphasis on royalty and noble is greater, but that is to be expected since much of fashion flowed down from these people - and the lower classes certainly didn't wear such elaborate garments or ornamentation. There are two indexes: a general index and an index of names (though these are of course influential nobles and royals rather than their subjects).
So, IMHO, don't sit down to write your epic without this book to hand.
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4: Wonderful book, excellent resource
The pictures are beautiful! the historical descriptions are detailed and informative with good representations of materials used and the purpose of each item/article of clothing.
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5: A beginning
I too am always looking for the one book that does it for me. This was my 1st Norris and it was hard to read, didn't have the info i needed and did'nt sight references but it must have done something right. It got me started researching, reading and experimenting. Norris sights Norris. He has the expert at the time the books were written. If you keep that in mind and love history, you can see how we got off base and why. It is a beginning book on basic costuming history. It is repeatative and rambling but valuable for values sake. If it's all you can afford go for it,you will be entertained and inspired. If you need to be exact. Go for something else
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