Costumer's Annotated Bibliography:

For contributions to this bibliography, hearty thanks go to:
Sayan of Lincoln, Tanikh bint Farida al Bakim, Ines de Santangel

On Fur
On Needlework
On the 12th Century
Miscellaneous

 

ON FUR:

Biber, Samuel. The Romance of Fur. Sydney: Frontis, 1935.

This book was written by one of the leaders of the Sydney fur industry in the 1930’s, when fur was still in vogue. He details the fur industry, including a brief history of fur, a discussion on the various types of fur used by the industry, trapping, and the actual fur production.

Crowfoot, Elisabeth, Frances Pritchard, and Kay Staniland. The Museum of London: Textiles and Clothing c 1150 – c 1450. London: The Boydell Press, 2001.

One of my most referenced books, this book contains information on stitches used in England during the middle ages, which includes many of the stitches used today for sewing fur.

Krohn, Margaret and Phyllis Schwebke. How to Sew Leather, Suede, Fur. United States: Simon & Schuster, 1966.

This book, despite having very funny outdated drawings of “fashionable” women, is very straightforward on how to cut and sew fur. It discusses working with used fur, nailing a hide, dying furs, and the properties of various furs.

Newton, Stella. Fashion in the Age of the Black Prince. Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer, 2002.

While this book primarily focuses on the thirteenth century England, Stella Newton is wonderfully explicit in her discoveries of fur costs and prices during this time period. She discusses the various types of vair, the relative value and prestige awarded to various furs, and how many hides went into each article of clothing.

Peregrinator, Tempus. Fabrics Furs, 2003.

This web page contains a very brief overview of the history of fur, and includes a very useful side panel where it lists fur-bearing mammals, discussing their appearance, uses, and habitats.

Phillips, Paul Chrisler. The Fur Trade. Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1961.

This book starts out with a very brief overview of the fur trade, rushing through the Middle Ages in a matter of pages. Unfortunately, the rest of the book discusses the American fur trade in detail, which is out of period for the SCA.

Scrivano, Sandy. Sewing with Leather & Suede. New York: Lark Books, 1998.

This book discusses how to sew with leather, both on a machine and by hand. While it does not discuss how to sew with furs, many of the techniques she teaches can also be used on furs as well.

University of Michigan Museum of Zoology. Animal Diversity Web, 2004.

This site is great for leaning about the animals that are used in the fur industry. Simply enter the name of the animal you wish to know more about in the search box, and it opens up a whole page discussing the breeding habits, length, color of coat, coat properties, pictures of the animal, discusses where they are native and where they have been introduced, and whether or not they are currently endangered or extinct. It is useful for learning more about European fur-bearing mammals.

Veale, Elspeth. The English Fur Trade in the Later Middle Ages. London: Oxford University Press, 1966.

This is the best book I have found on the history of Furs in the Middle Ages. Elspeth discusses the rise and fall of furs, the fur trade, the various uses of furs, the costs of furs at different points in time, how furs were tanned and sewn, the cleaning of furs, and other wonderfully interesting tidbits.

Vogue. Vogue Sewing. New York: Butterick Publishing Company, 1985.

There aren’t many books published today that discuss sewing with real fur, due to its decline in popularity. This book, however, does talk about how to bind the edges of leather and furs, interface furs, attach fur collars, how to fix worn holes in furs, and what styles work best with furs. It is a very useful reference for learning how to handle this material.

Wilcox, R Turner. The Mode in Furs. London: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1951.

This book discusses the history of furred costume from prehistoric times to the present. Sadly, as is the case with many of the books written in the 50’s, much of this book’s “information” is unsubstantiated or flat out wrong. Please crosscheck this book with another before using it as a primary source.

Wendelken, Rebecca. Working with Fur: Pseudo And Otherwise.

This page, which was originally published in Meridies, discusses how to sew ermine and vair out of fake fur. She does not discuss how to sew with real fur, but she does cover how to sew fur on the sewing machine – something I have not yet attempted to try.

 

ON NEEDLEWORK:

Beck, Thomasina. The Embroiderer's Story: Needlework from the Renaissance to the Present Day, David & Charles (Newton Abbott, Devon 1995) 0-7153-0238-8

Should be in every needleworker's library, but not top on the
list. Good for those interested in looking at very late period embroidery, but deals mostly with post-period needlework. Lots of pictures, some stitch explanation, but I have seen more complete explanations in the Dillmont Book.

de Dillmont, Therese. The Complete Encyclopedia of Needlework (Third Edition), Running Press Book Publishers (Philadelphia, 1996)
ISBN 0-7624-0388-8

This book is also known as "the DMC book". It was published by
DMC in 1884. While this book does not contain any really useable documentation, it is a marvelous learning tool, a must for any needleworker. Every time I open this book, I learn something new. Illustrations are precise and coordinate well with the text. I taught myself netting from this book, as well as several of the more obscure stitches.

King, Donald and Santina Levey. The Victoria & Albert Museum's Textile Collection, Canopy Books (New York, 1993) ISBN I-55859-652-6

This is a must for any period embroiderer, containing several really good photos of period needlework. Catalog, in the front, provides the date and description of each piece of needlework pictured. Description includes the type of stitches used.

Kybalová, Ludmila, Olga Herbanová, and Milena Lamorová. The Pictorial Encyclopedia of Fashion, Crown Publishing (New York, 1972) ISBN 0-600-03068-7 LOC 68-14771

If you can find this book, buy it. Lots of really good pictures not
found in other general costume books. The first part of the book is set up chronologically, however the second part is set up by article of clothing, so you may have to really search for the time period you want to document.

May, Florence Lewis. Hispanic Lace and Lace Making, The Hispanic Society of America (New York, 1939) no ISBN or LOC

Good read for any lace maker. Provides the broad spectrum of
lace forms throughout Spain during and after period. Also, breaks down regional Lace types and a bit of history with them.

Schuette, Marie and Sigrid Muller-Christensen (translated by Donald King.) A Pictorial History of Embroidery, Frederick A. Praeger (New York 1965) No ISBN, LOC 64-13379

One day this book will be mine! In the meantime, I must content with some photocopies from it. It is awesome, but expensive. However, it is available through inter-library loan. Contains pictures some of the oldest existing pieces of needlework, some as early as the 4th-5th centuries BCE. Also has a large selection of needlework throughout period.

 

ON THE 12th CENTURY:

Aries, Philippe and Georges Duby. A History of Private Life: Revelations of the Medieval World. Cambrige: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1988. ISBN: 0-6744-0001-1.

This book doesn’t directly deal with medieval dress, but has many good source illuminations and paintings, all attributed to their original source.

Art-Roman.net, 2001-2003.

This site, written in French, translates nicely if you run it through Google’s translation tools. It includes a wealth of photos of Romanesque churches, including frescos, sculptures, and stained glass. One drawback to this site is the churches are not always dated, so one must do research to find out exactly when a particular fresco was painted. There are two interesting pictures on this site of a woman nursing a child through the slit of her bliaut.

Barton, Lucy. Historic Costume for the Stage. Boston: Walter H. Baker Company, 1935. ISBN: 0874400023.

This book covers the “Byzantine and Romanesque” periods in one lump sum, speaking of Europe as a whole rather than trends in each individual area. As a result, her comments, which are without much illustration, are a mishmash of the costumes of over three hundred years jammed into one page. Not useful for drawing any conclusions about the 12th century in particular.

Bradfield, Nancy. Historic Costumes of England: 1066-1968. New York: Costume & Fashion Press, 1938. ISBN: 0-89675-218-1.

This book, originally written in 1938, features the author’s line drawings of 12th century costumes. She includes several flaws from Norris, including the oriental surcoat, and the lacing up the back.

Boucher, Francois. 20,000 Years of Fashion: The History of Costume and Personal Adornment. New York: Harry N Abrams Inc, 1965. ISBN: 0-8109-1693-2.

This book, because it deals with the past 2000 years of fashion, has only a few pages on the Angevian time period (1100 to 1150). However, it has many color photographs of source illuminations and statues, and a discussion of why the changes in fashion upset the church.

Cahn, Walter. Romanesque Bible Illumination. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1982. ISBN: 0-8014-1446-6.

A beautiful book full of many black and white, and some color, pictures of illuminations from Romanesque manuscripts. The end of the book has a brief synopsis of every manuscript from this period mentioned in the book, and an approximate date of creation.

Cowgill, J. M. de Neergaard, N. Griffiths, and the Museum of London. Knives and Scabbards. Bury St Edmonds: Boydell Press, 1987. ISBN: 0-85115-805-6.

This Museum of London book features black and white photographs of extant 12th century knives, scabbards, and shears. This is useful for completing one’s outfit.

Crowfoot, Elisabeth, Frances Pritchard, and Kay Staniland. The Museum of London: Textiles and Clothing c 1150 – c 1450. London: The Boydell Press, 2001. ISBN: 0-85115-840-4.

This book discusses the various fabrics found in London archeological digs. Of particular interest is several wool and silk samples that date back to the 12th century, including a discussion on the silk trade, and a section on tablet woven bands.

Crockett, Candance. Card Weaving. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 1973. ISBN 0-8230-0562-3.

A good book for learning how to card weave, this book includes a few pages on the history of card weaving from Egypt to modern day. There are three photographs of extant 12th century card weaving, which include one sample from Islam and one from France.

Davenport, Millia. The Book of Costume. New York: Crown Publishers, 1948. ISBN: 0-517-037165.

This is a big book of black and white pictures of source sculptures and illustrations, divided by geographic area and century. Text includes some extant observations on the clothing.

Dodds, Jerrilynn. Al-Andalus: The Art of Islamic Spain. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1992. ISBN: 0-87099-636-3.

This is a fat, very expensive book full of color pictures on Islamic Spain. There are several fragments of 12th and 13th century fabric, photographed in color. There is also a picture of the Brial of Don Garcia, and a close up picture showing the detail of the fabric. There are also pictures of two extant 123h century shirts included, a 12th century mantle, and a 13th century baby’s hat.

Dodwell, C R. Anglo-Saxon Art: A New Perspective. Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 1982. ISBN: 0-8014-1516-0

This is an excellent book on the social and practical use of Anglo-Saxon art from the years 600 to 1100. In addition to describing the types of silk already imported by the Anglo-Saxons (including Purpura), there is a wonderful chapter which explains the social implications of being conquered by the Normans, how it affected Anglo-Saxon art, how the Normans disdained Anglo-Saxon art and melted down a great deal of objects to enrich the king’s coffers. It is a good book for understanding the changes in art before and after the conquest – many direct quotes from manuscripts and some black and white photos.

Dodwell, C R. The Great Lambeth Bible. New York: Thomas Yoseloff, 1959.

This book has a large introduction written by C R Dodwell, which explains the history and the difficulty in dating the The Lambeth Bible (Which is dated roughly 1150 AD). He discusses the possible master illuminators, and mentions other works done at the same time. Then follows several color plates of illumated pages from the Labeth Bible.

Dodwell, C R. The Pictoral Arts of the West 800-1200. New Haven: Yale University Press , 1993. ISBN: 0-300-05348-7

A large volume thick with source pictures (all attributed.) Some color plates, mostly black and white photos. Text details the trends and changes in painting, stain glass arts during the years 800-1200.

Evans, Joan. Dress in Mediaeval France. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1952. Obtained through Questia.

This book has primary source pictures of the palmerino bliaut (The coronation garb of King Roger the Second).

Egan, Geoff and Frances Pritchard. Museum of London: Dress Accessories 1150-1450. Bury St Edmunds: The Boydell Press, 1991. ISBN 0-85115-839-0.

This book is an excellent archeological document of dress accessories found during digs in London, and includes trends, photos of actual pins, brooches, buckles and fasteners, and metallurgical analysis.

Goddard, Eunice Rathbone. Women’s Costume In French Texts of the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries. New York: Johnson Reprint Corporation, 1973. ISBN: 0-384-19040-5.

This book was originally written in 1927, as her PHD thesis. It is one of the best books on the 12th century costume in extant texts. Unfortunately, it is now very hard to get a hold of. Johnson Reprint Corporation sells a version for 80$, which can be found through Alibris.com. Or, there are several copies held at various universities in the United States, including the University of Washington. I was able to read a copy through King County’s Interlibrary Loan, which obtained it from the University of Idaho.
The first twenty-four pages of the book are Goddard’s thoughts on the dress of the 11th and 12th centuries. When compared to her contemporaries – Norris, Kohler, Goddard had a far more authentic version than any of her more widely published male colleagues. The next two hundred pages are a French glossary of costuming terms. She includes the term, what she believes it meant in regards to clothing, and includes extant sentences using this term to show it in context, in the original medieval French. Her glossary includes entries for the pelice, mantle, bliaut, centure, and other parts of a woman’s clothing. Many interesting things can be learned from her work, that are not obvious from looking at extant illuminations – that the bliaut was sometimes lined with fur, for instance. I highly recommend reading this book at least once.

Grew, Francis, Margrethe de Neergard and Museum of London. Shoes and Pattens. London: HMSO, 1988. ISBN: 0-11-290443-2.

Another wonderful museum of London book, this has pictures of extant shoes, pattens, and line drawings, not to mention remains that show how they were made, what stitches used, etc. An excellent reference.

Holkeboer, Katherine. Patterns for Theatrical Costumes: Garments, Trims and Accessories from Ancient Egypt to 1915. New York: Costume and Fashion Press, 1993. ISBN: 0-89676-125-8.

This book is a good overview of shapes for the wide ranges of periods covered, however, her research is fundamentally flawed, based obviously off of the “research” of Norris and other Victorian costumers – she has two versions of the bliaut – one has a corset underneath, the other has a body-belt.

Holmes, Urban Tigner Jr. Daily Living in the Twelfth Century: Based on the Observations of Alexander Neckham in London and Paris. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1952. ISBN: 0-299-00854-1.

A travelogue discussing how the twelfth century looked from the viewpoint of a churchman, discussing everything from beds, clothing, housing, to chairs. Although the information is scattered throughout the book, there is a good index and an excellent bibliography where he attributes most of his major points.

Holt, Janet, Tristram Holland, and George Zarnecki. English Romanesque Art: 1066-1200. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1984. ISBN: 0-297-78433-1.

This is a catalogue of an exhibit held at the Hayward Gallery in London from April 5 to July 8th in 1984. The book is 416 pages long, and includes 41 pages of color photographs. There are numerous black and white photographs throughout the rest of the book, and descriptions of each item and its historical dating. This book contains some unusual pictures of ivory sculptures, metal candlesticks, carved stone sculptures, and stained glass, in addition to illuminations.

Hunnisett, Jean. Period Costume for Stage And Screen: Patterns for Women’s Dress, Medieval – 1500. Studio City: Players Press Inc, 1996. ISBN: 0-88734-653-7.

This book is excellent for making stage costumes – covers making a toile, how to measure a person accurately, appropriate fabrics, sewing godets, making eyelets by hand, hand stitches… however, her actual costumes are related to one or two costumes per time period, starting at 1150’s with the Chartres statue and the figure of wisdom. I recommend this book as a good “how to sew medieval clothes”, but recommend additional research elsewhere.

Kohler, Carl. A History of Costume. New York, Dover Publications, 1963. ISBN: 0-486-21030-8

The original French version of this book dates from 1928, and as such, has many historical inaccuracies relating to the view of 12th century garments at the time. There are no photographs of extant illustrations in this book, but it does provide a photo of an extant 11th century German tunic, and the Herjolfsnes dress. Not to be used as an authoritative source – definitely wrong on the upper half construction of the women’s bliaut.

Laver, James. Costume Through The Ages. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1963. ASIN: 0671165216.

This is yet another 1960’s costume book. This one features no text, merely line drawings which are taken from sculptures (Chartres Cathedral) and illuminations – without attributation.

Le Duc, Viollet. Encyclopédie médiévale d'après Viollet le Duc. Translated by Katherine Barich. [Copy of Translation stored in the files of the 12th Century Garb Yahoo List]

Le Duc was one of the first to write on the subject of twelfth century dress. However, he made many mistakes off of looking at the Chartres Cathedral Statues, which Norris later repeated, which have now made their way into most of the costume books out there today.

Lister, Margot. Costume. Boston: Plays Inc, 1968. ISBN: 0-8238-0096-2.

This is another 1960’s costume book, which repeats most of Norris’s mistakes. There are some line drawings presumably drawn by Ms Lister, none of which are attributed to any particular source.

Mitchell, Timothy J. Costume for a 12th Century Lady, Tournaments Illuminated #115, summer 1995.

An interesting discussion of a twelfth century Spanish women’s gown, however, I believe that the gown was side rather than back laced.

Norris, Herbert. Medieval Costume and Fashion. Mineola: Dover Publications, 1927 (Reprint 1999). ISBN: 0-486-40486-2.

Norris’s book is one of the early Edwardian times works on Norman costume. While it certainly inherited some of its errors from earlier predecessors, it is responsible for propagating more of its own, including some garments which appear to be made up out of thin air without any proof found of their existence (The Corsage, and The Oriental Surcoat). It’s an interesting read to see where some of these errors got their early start, but must be taken with a large grain of salt.

Prawer, Joshua. The World of the Crusaders. New York: Quadrangle Books, 1972. ISBN: 0-297-99537-5.

This book has some pictures, but nothing of interest to women’s dress of the twelfth century. It has a brief diatribe against the over-ornate clothes of the worldly knight on page 116.

Saunders, O Elfrida. A History of English Art in the Middle Ages. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1932. E-published through Questia.com. ASIN: 0836951581.

This is a good introduction to the styles of English Art and the influences from various sources during the period. Although the book is out of print, I found this book – and excellent black and white scanned pictures, on Questia.com electronic library.

Shaver-Crandell, Annie. The Middle Ages. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1982. ISBN: 0-521-29870-9.

A small book that has many pictures of gothic and Romanesque art – including a few pictures of the Chartres statues, and a discussion on how they were made and why they are unique.

Silby, Belinda. The Bliaut: A Reconstruction Based on Primary Source Material, Tournaments Illuminated #109, winter 1993.

Now out of print, this article can be found on the 12th century garb yahoo group files, courtesy of Ms. Silby. The article discusses flaws with past research (in particular Norris), and presents a bias cut, two-part version of the bliaut.

Stoddard, Whitney S. Sculptors of the West Portals of Chartres Cathedral. New York: WW Norton and Company, 1952. ISBN: 0-393-02265-6.

This book includes many pictures of the Chartres west portal, including some detail shots of the royal Queens of the Old Testament’s clothing. They are all in black and white, no color.

Stone, Lawrence. Sculpture in Britain: The Middle Ages. Baltimore: Penguin Books Inc, 1955. ASIN: 0300053002.

This book contains 192 pages of black and white photographs of sculpture in stone or metal during the middle ages. It starts with a few pieces from the seventh century, and then progresses to the early sixteenth century. Of particular interest is plate # 68, which is a marble font from Winchester Cathedral dating 1160-1170, which shows several Norman women in great detail.

Tilke, Max. Costume Patterns and Designs. New York: Hasting House, 1974. ISBN: 0-9039-1191-8.

A very large book with color plates on many types of ethnic costumes – however, the 12th century portion is one page of black and white hand drawings with no original source attributed.

Waugh, Christina Frieder. Well-Cut through the Body: Fitted Clothing in Twelfth-Century Europe. Dress #26, 1999. (Journal of the Costume Society of America.)

An extremely good article on the tight fitting and well tailored clothing of the twelfth century. Get it through ILL if you can – to buy this issue for a non-member costs 25$. Very good source pictures included, including the extant brial of Don Garcia.

Yarwood, Doreen. English Costume: From the Second Century, BC to 1952. London: B T Batsford, LTD, 1952. ASIN: 0713408537.

Written in the 1950’s, this book borrows heavily from Norris. Her redrawing is extremely similar to Peacock’s, with almost exact poses and garments drawn. There are no source pictures, and her descriptions rely heavily on Norris’s corset theory, plus the belief that the girdle was made out of leather.

 

MISC REVIEWS:

Teviotdale, Elizabeth C. The Stammheim Missal. Los Angeles: Getty
Museum, Studies On Art, 2001. ISBN: 0-89236-615-x.

The Stammheim Missal dates from the 1170's and comes from Northern Germany. This book, published by the Getty Museum, contains all of the major illuminations from the Missal, and a few pictures not seen in other publications such as a page from the Floreffe Bible and a lower Saxony enameled casket. There are some very interesting pictures including a rebec, women with bell and maunch sleeves, and a man with a vair lined cape.

Bouchier, Francois. 20,000 Years of Fashion, Harry N. Abrams inc., N.Y., 1987 ISBN 0-8109-1693-2

A good overview, and seems close to the mark with most of the text, though still I still advise checking facts with other sources. Good pictures of primary sources, no redrawings, but many are in B&W.

Gervers, Veronika, ed. Studies In Textile History, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, 1977 ISBN 0-88854-192-9

Contents: Warp Patterned Kain Benetan from N. Celebes; 18th C French Woodblock Printed Cottons in the ROM; Constructions used by Jacquard coverlet weavers in Ontario; Clothing of a 14th C Nubian Bishop; Loom representation on the Chiusi Vase; Early Christian curtain in the ROM; Tiraz fabrics in the ROM; Notes on Italian and Spanish textiles in the 17th C; Icelandic Mediaeval Embroidery Terms and Techniques; Etruscan Textile remains in the ROM; Traditional Weaving in and Old Lappish community in transition; How many apocalypse tapestries?; classical tradition in early Christian art: a textile fragment in the ROM; the problem of brown wool in mediaeval tapestries: the restoration of the fourth Caesar tapestry; lace and lace patterned silks; notes on felt making and the production of other textiles at Seh Gabi, a Kurdish village; John Holker's mid-18th C; examples of mediaeval tablet woven bands; three pieces of unpatterned linen from ancient Egypt in the ROM; a closer vie of early Chinese silks; the introduction of the jacquard loom to great Britain; textile finds in the people's republic of china; three ladies in tapestry; Archaeological and Ethnological considerations of the Foot-braced body-tension loom; the rise and spread of old world cotton. Although many are beyond the scope of the SCA, the are some excellent articles in this collection.

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