Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2011 - 71

scrolled through scans or microfiche of 19thcentury Harper's Bazar issues, the colossal task
Grimble takes on in all her publications is impressive. (Harper's didn't add the second 'A' to
Bazaar until the early 20th century.) The source
documents from which she culls her material
were often printed in a minuscule font size with
pattern piece outlines stacked atop one another
on the same sheet. Extracting even a single piece
can be a mind-boggling, time-consuming exercise in frustration. Grimble has separated out
the pattern pieces into clear, precise diagrams
with no overlap, and she has transcribed the accompanying text faithfully and legibly. She has
sorted the patterns by garment type and provided both descriptive chapter groupings and a
concise index for easy accessibility. For example, one may quickly peruse all outerwear style
variations featured in the given time interval.

Some experience necessary
These volumes will be most useful to the experienced costume production artisan. Though
the books have subtitles like "41 Patterns With
Fashion Plates and Suggestions for Adaptation,"
they will not serve as step-by-step how-to manuals for novice sewists. The reproduced text is
provided without annotation. There are often
descriptions or depictions of style variations
without detailed information as to how alterations might be made. This omission comes directly from the period reference. Grimble has
not selectively omitted relevant information, but
neither has she inserted her own elaboration.
For example, a complete scalable pattern titled
"Street Costume" is given in the "Ensembles"
section of Bustle Fashions 1885-1887, followed by a similar ensemble made up in two
very different fabrics, a third with added cuffs
and pocket flaps, and a fourth with flounces
and an extended front closure using double the
number of buttons. No additional pieces or instruction indicate how to create the variations;
it is left to the knowledgeable reader to deduce.
Those costumers who feel comfortable switching up finishing details, reworking trimmings
or closures, or redrafting elements like different collar and cuff shapes will have no problem
creating all the styles in the book with free experimentation. Those who are not confident in
their pattern adjustment abilities may feel that

the books' patterns are too difficult to achieve
satisfactory results. Readers desiring or requiring detailed instructions similar to modern pattern companies' insertions will not find them in
these texts.
In addition to edited patterns from The Delineator, Peterson's Magazine, and National
Garment Cutter, Bustle Fashions 1885-1887
also reproduces in its entirety a period text on
home-sewing methods which serves as an excellent resource for interpreting some of the
style variations depicted. Chapters on bodice fit
alterations, bustle draping tips, and methods of
trim creation will aid drapers seeking historical
construction references in analyzing renderings
and developing stage costumes.
The apportoning scales printed in the back
of the texts are interesting from a historical perspective and might be a useful set of tools for
a stitcher desiring to scale patterns without any
use of mathematics. But the process for using
them is more difficult to work with in a theatrical costume context than simply working from
the original patterns as slopers and adjusting

summer 2011

to fit in a traditional process. I would be curious to see how these patterns would stand up if
scanned and manipulated using pattern drafting
software. And because of the books' cumbersome size (446 and 563 pages, respectively), I
would love to see them available in a download
format as well, particularly for freelancers who
take a research library from job to job on a
jump drive or in an e-reader format.

Excellent library additions
The books contain glossaries compiled from
period sources; they are not comprehensive,
however, nor particular to each volume. Some
terms must be intuited from context within the
volumes themselves, and many terms cited in
the glossaries are not to be found in the accompanying text.
All in all, drapers and patternmakers will
find these books most useful in production of
costumes from the periods covered. Designers
may also find them inspiring as easily perused
sources of period imagery. They would serve
wonderfully as inclusions in the research pack-

theatre design

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2011