I bought a copy of Costume in Detail, Women's Dress, 1730-1930 by Nancy Bradfield and referred to it often throughout the project. The illustrations are so inspirational. I had to remind myself that these were actual garments from the period that had been preserved, so although they were undoubtedly authentic, they were not generally everyday clothes but clearly had been deemed to be worthy of keeping and handing down. So I shouldn’t be daunted by the level of workmanship and detail in their makeup. All the same it was lovely to have the clothes described in such detail – the fabrics, the fastenings, every little thing down to the distance between buttons and how a seam had been finished.
