Successful stage productions and engaging historical reenactments rely on effective costuming to sell their illusions. Choosing the correct design, shape, cut, and color of clothing worn by actors helps to establish a show's authenticity and portray its important themes. To this end, Mary Fernald and Eileen Shenton's esteemed Historic Costumes and How to Make Them: A Practical Handbook serves as critical resource for bringing performances to life.

With basic, easy-to-read descriptive explanations and cutting diagrams, this classic costuming guide covers more than fourteen hundred years of English clothing and fashions for men and women, from the Middle Ages to the nineteenth century. The apparel of each period is summarized, followed by a robust section of simple line drawings of selected garments, with plenty of tips on the cut, stitching, sewing methods, pattern sizes, and construction of the pieces, plus suggestions for the most suitable, era-appropriate colors and textures to use for particular lighting and visual effects. The authentic styles and outfits depicted range from plain tunics worn by Saxon men in the fifth century to fancy woman's bustle dress of the late 1800s. Other specific items include Elizabethan doublets, capes, and trunks; medieval and Renaissance garb; a man's coat and vest from the Restoration period; an eighteenth-century bell-shaped gown; a lady's empire gown of the early nineteenth century; a crinoline; and simple period pieces such as headdresses, caps, and hoods. Also included is a broad overview of historic costuming, as well as a suggested reading list about the history of costumes. This is an invaluable book for the library of any devoted costume maker, historical reenactment actor, or theater wardrobe designer.