Rare Edwardian Fashion Resources Now Available

Theatrical and reenactment costumers, vintage clothing and fashion plate
collectors, and costume historians need authentic period sources.  To
aid them _The Edwardian Modiste:  85 Authentic Patterns with
Instructions, Fashion Plates, and Period Sewing Techniques,_ edited by
Frances Grimble, has just been published by Lavolta Press.  _The
Edwardian Modiste_ is an all-in-one pattern book, dressmaking manual,
fashion plate collection, and identification/dating tool.  It costs far
less than rare original sources if they can be found.

_The Edwardian Modiste_ collects 85 patterns, 91 fashion plates, and
fashion columns from 13 magazines published from 1905 through 1909.  It
covers all major style changes.  Most garments in a fashionable woman s
wardrobe are included, from lingerie through evening gowns through
sports outfits.  Each pattern has drafting and sewing instructions.
Illustrated selections from a 1907 dressmaking manual give further
details on construction, materials, colors, and accessories.  The
introduction provides step-by-step pattern enlargement instructions for
modern sewers.

Ms. Grimble says, "I bought the pattern magazines on a street corner
almost 20 years ago.  Though I often buy from rare book dealers, I ve
never seen other issues.  What s interesting is these magazines enable
you to use special rulers to enlarge pattern diagrams to your own
measurements.  You don't have to have drafting experience or do
arithmetic.  You just  draft by the numbers.   The rulers were missing,
so we recreated them from the patent application.  I used them to
enlarge some patterns.  The patterns fit well, even though I have modern
proportions.  But the patterns can be enlarged with a projector instead;
we reversed them from white lines on black blocks to facilitate this."

Frances Grimble is the author of _After a Fashion:  How to Reproduce,
Restore, and Wear Vintage Styles._  Over 60 of her articles on vintage
clothing have appeared in national magazines, such as _Threads, Sew
News,_ and _Antique Trader Weekly._  She has collected, restored, and
reproduced historic clothes since 1972.

_The Edwardian Modiste_ can be purchased for $42 in bookstores or
ordered from Lavolta Press at 20 Meadowbrook Drive, San Francisco, CA
94132.

_The Edwardian Modiste:  85 Authentic Patterns with Instructions,
Fashion Plates, and Period Sewing Techniques_
Edited and with additional material by Frances Grimble
8 1/2" x 11" quality paperback
430 pages
85 patterns, 91 fashion plates, 21 sewing illustrations
Drafting rulers, metric conversion table, glossary, bibliography, index
Publication date:  December 1997 (available now)
ISBN:  0-9636517-1-4
LCCN:  96-75989
$42 plus $4 shipping; California purchasers must add sales tax