From my library - fun "dress-up" books

Well, in this installment of "From my library" we are back on the dining room table because it is a smaller group of books, eighteen in all. These are non-serious costume books.  Or you could think of them as fun costuming books.  Or another way to look at it, these are books for costumers in a hurry.  And I think we have all been there at one time or another.

The largest subcategory is costuming for amateur theater.  I strongly feel this is a much harder job than professional costuming where there are so many more resources and usually a group of costumers with years of experience between them.  The amateur costumer has fewer resources and most likely the people helping her are not too experienced AND, she/he probably has a full time job Monday through Friday.
Below are my favorites ones from this group.

"Costuming made easy - How to make costumes from cast off clothing" by Barb Rogers really shows what can been done with thrift store stuff.  This is probably the cheapest and fastest way to cobble together costumes for an amateur play.

Here she shows how to take a man's two piece suit ...

And turn in into a tail coat. I've done this and it works!

"Broadway Costumes on a Budget" by Janet Litherland and Sue McAnally is full of lots of useful costuming tips, but what this book is really good for is teaching how to organize and delegate all the work involved in costuming a show.  And, the thing I like the best is how they have made categories for shows that share the same kind of costumes.  This can be very useful when reusing or borrowing costumes.
If you were only going to own one book in this category I would recommend "Stage Costume Techniques" by Joy Spanable Emery.  She covers basic clothing history, fabric choices, pattern making, how to set up a workroom and the costuming process, meaning what the costumers responsibilities are.  Generally a good book. She also runs an amazing collection of home sewing patterns from the beginning of home sewing patterns at the University of Rhode Island.

A book I acquired recently is "Patterns for Costume Accessories" by Arnold S. Levine and Robin L. McGee.  This book has loads of patterns for useful costume accessories such as these gaiters.

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These three books are basically kid's costume books.  The book on the right, Jane Asher's Costume Book, is really fun though. Jane Asher, the British actress, has come up with many funny and very quick costume ideas, Such as this statue on a Pillar.

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What about her costume for St. George and the dragon?

I liked this costume so much I made a version of it for my son. One little kid started crying so much when he saw my son's costume I had to lift up the shirt to prove my son still had his head!

Or Queen Elizabeth made of an old curtain, netting gold paint and paper doilies?

Above is my collection of vintage costume and masquerade books.  I have a reprint of one from 1892, one from the 40's, a 50's book for making costumes out of crepe paper ... really! ... seems like a fire hazard. But, my favorite one is from the 20's. I plan to devote an entire blog to costume wearing in the 1920's.  They don't call it the "Roaring Twenties" for nothing.

This last book doesn't show how to make costumes but it is so fun, I've been trying to find a way to show it to you, so I'm doing it now. It is a book that gives an overview of costume history from Roman times to the present, in the humorous way only the British can do.


It is considered a kids book, but every adult I've loaned it to has loved reading it AND has actually learned some costume history.


I looked at Amazon and there are some used copies for sale starting at $.01!  Well worth it.

This should take you to Amazon.

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