Medieval Costume and Fashion

Rating:
Summary: Norris for Knowledge and Vision
Review: Norris was not just a costumer he was a bonified Historian when it came to Historical Dress. While at times it feels limited on pictures it does go into detail on style and design, who started the fashion and where that era got it's ideas. This has been the most useful book series I have found for researching and creating historical costuming. It not only touches on the noble classes but the other classes as well. It shows shoes which is very hard to find and as others said the tiny details. Girdles, headlry and even the monastic and clerical information. If you can visualize from reading and pictures this is a great resource. If you need patterns try some costuming books as an added resource. Try all of the books in the series you can find them most likely in the library if they are out of print.

Rating:
Summary: Not Historically Accurate
Review: Norris's book is a good place to start, but he writes with a heavy Victorian bias, and frequently makes a lot of the details up. It's a good basic overview, for costumes and such, but if you're looking for real, authentic, accuratey researched information, such as for the SCA, this is not a reliable source. Aside from accuracy, he completely ignores large sections of Europe - Italy, Scandinavia, Spain - and focuses on England, France, and Germany.

Rating:
Summary: More than just clothing: a good resource for costumes
Review: This book goes into more detail about medieval costume than most I've seen--a lot of other books tend to lump 10th-15th century stuff together, where this book shows the evolution and a number of different costumes throughout the period. What I found very useful was the sections on hairstyles, accessories, heraldry, and other details you don't usually find elsewhere. That being said, the author often makes assertions that may just be educated guesses--it's hard to tell the hard historical fact from conjecture. The bibilography cites a number of other costume books and artwork; read it first to understand his sources. However, I haven't yet found a better book on this period. It's very readable and has a lot of good sketches and a few color plates.

Rating:
Summary: A GREAT resource!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: This book is a fountain of knowledge! The pictures and text are easy to understand. I found that this book made clear subjects which other resources assumed you already knew and glanced through. This book has been reviewed as being for the advanced costumer, but I think that it is also a good source of information for novices, since I am one. A must have for someone in the SCA!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Medieval redrawings only
Review: This book is fine for getting an idea about what medieval costume looked like but don't plan to use it as a source for historical costume research. The illustrations in this book are redrawings and Norris doesn't even tell you where he originally copied the pictures from. Save your money.

Rating:
Summary: Great to look at but horribly inaccurate.
Review: This book is one of the medieval costume sources heavily influenced by the Victorian era. Norris' redrawings are changed quite a bit from the originals. He tends to base his thoughts off of the romanticized Victorian view of the middle ages rather than the actual middle ages. What he can't find from that, he just makes up. If you are looking for the "feel" of the middle ages in a halloween costume, this book will be fine. If you are interested in accuracy, you would be better to spend your money elsewhere.

Rating:
Summary: Great text but not enough pictures
Review: This book may be a great resource for specific historical details pertaining to Medival costumes, but it does not have enough pictures. There are several plates in the middle of the book that show, in detail and in color,some of the higher class styles, and there are a few black and white drawings of similar styles. For those of you who are more visual this book may leave you wanting more, but it would be a good source for those costumers with more interest in written detail.

Rating:
Summary: Nice pickys
Review: This is a book to use for the pictures when you've already done the research into the period you are intersed in. The drawings are detailed but the text can be vague and if you are trying to make acurate costumes I would not rely on this book alone but it is also a handy book to have

Rating:
Summary: A Must Have for Historical Fashion
Review: This one is a must have for those wishing to know more about the clothing of the medieval era. It is a great resource for costumers as well as those interested in learning about the history of fashion in this fascinating time. It is widely used in the SCA for both content and pictures, and for good reason. Unlike many of the books similar to this one, this book is readable. It contains more than enough pictures to satisfy those who are looking for new ideas for future outfits, but check with other resources for help with patterns and design.