The Blue Book of Tailoring

[Sator]

Croonsborg wrote his Blue Book of Tailoring in 1907, and it is a classic. I own many tailoring manuals, but this is one of my favourites, and I find myself returning to it again and again. Croonsborg seems to have a particular talent for draughting patterns of great elegance. Some of the ideas on his patterns would definitely be worthwhile incorporating into modern coats. The patterns for waistcoats deserve special mention.

Included is also the Blue Book of Etiquette - a Guide to Conduct and Dress on All Occasions. It is very interesting to read and some of it remains relevant even today.

The Amazon link can be found here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/ ... f=dp_olp_2

I cannot recommend this book strongly enough. The tailors here should grab a copy, as should anyone else interested in bespoke tailoring.

[Cordovan]

To clarify - the Blue Book of Etiquette is a section of Blue Book of Men's Tailoring?

Cordovan

[Sator]

The Blue Book of Etiquette is an altogether different piece of writing by a separate author. It has been added to the publication as an addendum.

[schneidergott]

Thanks for the link, Sator!

I just purchased that book from Amazon. I have german books with similar patterns from about the same time, but the price was just too tempting.
I'm looking forward to it.
There was a german tailoring book on offer on german Ebay, called: Die Zuschneidekunst published by "Der Schneidermeister", Hannover. Went to Australia. I have an edition from 1934. If you bought it, you are lucky, it's an excellent book with loads of details, that are missing in newer books.

SG

[schneidergott]

Thanks for the link, Sator!

I just purchased that book from Amazon. I have german books with similar patterns from about the same time, but the price was just too tempting.
I'm looking forward to it.
There was a german tailoring book on offer on german Ebay, called: Die Zuschneidekunst published by "Der Schneidermeister", Hannover. Went to Australia. I have an edition from 1934. If you bought it, you are lucky, it's an excellent book with loads of details, that are missing in newer books.

SG

[Sator]

Ja, ich habe das Buch von eBay gekauft! Es ist gestern angekommen, und finde es auszecheichnet.

The Blue Book is shorter, but irrespective of how many books you own, it is so good I would recommend you get it anyway. The author has an unusually fine eye for draughting patterns of exceptional elegance. I find that a rare quality amongst publications. The patterns for waistcoats are particularly imaginative. Other books are more thorough in other ways but this one is a rather special.

[RWS]

Ja, ich habe das Buch von eBay gekauft! . . . .

Why are we not surprised?

Seriously, I nominate Sator to put together the long-anticipated library of the Lounge, a permanent thread containing an annotated bibliography of the best works on our shared interests (and, if out of print, eventually posting their texts and illustrations as well). No better complement to Etutee´s outstanding summaries!

[Sator]

Ja, ich habe das Buch von eBay gekauft! . . . .

Why are we not surprised?

Seriously, I nominate Sator to put together the long-anticipated library of the Lounge, a permanent thread containing an annotated bibliography of the best works on our shared interests (and, if out of print, eventually posting their texts and illustrations as well). No better complement to Etutee´s outstanding summaries!

That's a good idea. I do have a modest library but others will surely be able to supplement it.

Due to time limitations I will start with a list of titles with a brief comment, as well as dates of publication. As time allows, I will try to put out scans of texts from old print books.

The trouble is that my knowledge of cutting and tailoring is limited. It is improving and I learn a lot all the time but it is amateurish. I hope the project will peak the interest of the tailors here who might add their better informed comments.

I guess a thread title like Bibliography for Cutters and Tailors or Textbooks for the Cutter and Tailor might be good. Feel free to suggest alternatives.

The LL is meant to be a bespoke forum, and of late we have had too little discussion of the technical aspects of tailoring.

[marcelo]

Whether in a new thread or in this very one, I do support the project for the creation of a commented bibliography relative to books on things sartorial. Since the present thread started off with reference to a publication from 1907, I would like to call attention to a book on men’s garments traditionally worn at that time. It is called Men’s Fashion Illustrations from the Turn of the Century, edited by Jean L. Druessedow. It is not exactly a technical book; apart from the brief introduction, it contains no further text. The remaining hundred pages contain the reproduction of plates published between 1900 and 1910 in The Sartorial Arts Journal. According to the editor, the The Sartorial Arts Journal was the main trade magazine consulted by tailors at the turn of the century in England.

[Sator]

I also own plenty of collections of fashion plates, including those mentioned. However, they are not of a technical nature, and like plates from Esquire and Apparel Arts, should be discussed separately.

The most important journals for cutters and tailors in the past are Minister's Gazette, and Cutter and Tailor. I've personally never heard of the Sartorial Arts Journal, and imagine it was one of many rival publications.

[Sator]

Seriously, I nominate Sator to put together the long-anticipated library of the Lounge, a permanent thread containing an annotated bibliography of the best works on our shared interests (and, if out of print, eventually posting their texts and illustrations as well). No better complement to Etutee´s outstanding summaries!

I have started a new thread. It is a sketchy bibliography, but it is a start. The contents of the books are too much for me to write an editorial or commentary on - and, I just don't know enough about the subject at hand to do so.

[Costi]

Congratulations for this excellent idea and thank you, Sator, for taking the time to start it off.
Let us not forget that the LL is more about dress than clothes, so the library need not be strictly technical and for tailors only, but also include titles (or excerpts / resumes) on how to wear the clothes or how they used to be worn in their historical context.

[Sator]

I thought I would stick to the technical aspect of cutting and tailoring. The real reason is because you really can't separate that from the aesthetic side of fit and style. The more I read, the more that becomes clear to me. It you look at the patterns and the ideas on how to cut a coat to achieve certain aesthetic ideals, you learn an immense amount about tailoring.

Also I wanted to have a thread that the tailors here would benefit from maximally. I want LL to be a full-on bespoke resource, one that even the most experienced of tailors would enjoy and benefit from.

Perhaps later I will write a thread on texts talking about dress history and the evolution of style and taste. However, the number of texts there is so large that I thought it best to devote a separate thread to it altogether.

[jb]

Sator,

This is great and much appreciated. I like to see how garments that graced those bygone magazine pages were cut. As I mentioned earlier, I have some small experience trying to recreate some of them for the theater many years ago. Their concepts are very interesting.

Thanks again,
Joel