Reference List

I thought I would list a few historic costuming, needlework, and textile books & provide my basic reviews of them since it was hard for me to find a helpful list of "good" books when I started my research.

Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd.... by Janet Arnold. Absoluety fanstastic, and I don't just say that lightly. I had been begging for a copy of this highly expensive & hard to get book for a couple of years now. I was recently surprised by this book as a present, which was an awesome gift. This book, like most of what Arnold writes, is absoluety superb. Full of pictures, portaits, warrants, and enough information to flood your brain. This volume is simply a historical costumers & embroiders bible for the Elizabethan era. (ISBN 0-901286-206)

Patterns of Fashion (Volumes for different time eras) by Janet Arnold....Again, probably the most detailed & researched costumers author. She provides pictures & descriptions of grave clothes.

Dress Accessories 1150-1450 (Musuem of London Series) By Geoff Egan & Frances Pritchard. A must for a serious textile research geek of this time period. (ISBN 0-85115-840-4)

Textiles & Clothing 1150-1450 (Musuem of London Series) By Elisabeth Crowfoot, Frances Pritchard, & Kay Staniland. A must for a serious textile research geek of this time period. (ISBN 0-85115-840-4)

Costume 1066-1990's by John Peacock. This illustrated, line drawing book is a nice source for ideas for English costumes. Take notice though, nothing is documented, but it is still a nice place to go for ideas. (And it's fairly inexpensive & easy to find.) (ISBN 0-500-27791-5)

Woven Into The Earth....A wonderful book containing descriptions, pictures, and more of textile findings in Norse Greenland.

Blackwork by Mary Gostelow. This is such a great, little handy book. It has some general background on historical blackwork, a nice introduction to various primary examples, and is easy to find & fairly cheap. (I think I paid less than $10 for my copy.)

The Victoria & Albert Museum's Textile Collection: Embroidery in Britian from 1200 to 1750. This is a nice series, with color pictures of many of the Musuem's excellent needlework pieces. The book is fairly good for the price & easily available online. (ISBN 1-57488-269-4)

Royal School of Needlework Embroidery Techinques....Nice book showcasing various forms of embroidery, with projects inside. Not much on the historical side, but a decent reference book for various stitches. (ISBN 1-57488-269-4)

A Pictorial History of Embroidery...Marie Schuette & Sigrid Muller-Christensen. This is by far the bible for documenting historical embroidery. It's loaded with pictures (mostly black & white) and even has brief descriptions of every photographed item. I would love to own a copy of this "bible", unfortunately, it's out of print and upwards of $400-500 for a copy.

Elizabethan Treasures: The Hardwick Hall Textiles...by Santina M. Levy. Great book that contains photos and descriptions of the textile furnishings of Hardwick Hall, which was owned by Bess of Hardwick. Easily avaiable and worth a look if your into Elizabethan embroidery and/or textiles. (ISBN: 0-8109-6353)

Baroque Charted Designs for Needlework...Reproduction of a pattern book orginally published in 1604. This book of charts are interesting, but hard to find since it's out of print. Though not too expensive if you can find a copy used.

100 Blackwork Charts & Another 100 Blackwork Charts....by The Skinner Sisters Nice charts taken from various period samples in museums.

Medieval Craftsmen Embroiders...by Kay Staniland. Good basic book for learning the history of embroidery in the Middle Ages. It has some photos of the more "famous" pieces, but a good beginning to learn about the art and the guilds of the time. (ISBN: 0-7141-2051-0)