Figure 1.-- A German reader tells us that she has found a very helpful book about children's fashions. Rather than drawings, the author has used recreations or vintge clothes to illustrate and compare many popular styles. The publishing house of this book is well respected in Germany and the text is very well researched. Here we have a recreation of a 16th century Tudor prince.

HBC Sources

Our general practice is to source each HBC page as appropriate. This the sources are included at the bottom of each page. Many of these sources are historial works or other publications including newspapers and magazines. Of course a photograph or painting is our basic source of information on many HBC pages. It occured to us that it might be useful to build a bibliography of works which have specifically addressed children's clothing or at least have a valuable section on children's clothes. The books on fashion are virtually countless. There is a much more limited number of works which have addressed children's fashions. Of course before the late 18th century, there were no specifically children's clothings. Thus general fashion books provide an inkling as to what children wore. Even so there were conventins for children such as younger boys wearing dresses. Usually fashion books ignore children. Thus a bibliography of books which do address the toopic of children and fashion may prove helpful to our readers.

Apertures Press School Books

Apertures Press has published a series of school books. The books are about schools and education in general, but include a great deal of information about school uniform and are illustrated with never before published photographs. There are both published books and eBooks currently available and more are planned.

Child Life in Colonial Days

An excellent book with information about children's clothing is Alice Morse Earle's Child Life in Colonial Days. The book is a sociological study of colonial childhood, but includes some very useful information about fashion. The book describes clothing and fashion in the original 13 English colonies in North America. There is a 29-page chapter about "Children's Dress." The book was first published in 1899 but is still available in a reprint edition.

Clothes and the Child

Anne Buck's Clothes and the Child: A Handbook of Children's Dress in England 1500-1900 is the best published work we know of on children's fashions. Whule the book is only about English fashion, it is much more important than a study for one country. Fashion was a luxury for the well to do. Thus for several cebnturies the rich and aristocratic throughout Europe dressed similarly. Also in our more modern era when destinctive children's fashions developed, England was a fashion leader--espdecially for boys. Buck also discussed the complete watdrobe and not just the outer clothing as HBC tends to do with our emphasis on paintings and photographs. Buck's book is clearly wrutten and well illustrated. It is a very important contribution to this subject. Unfortunateltly Buck does not cover the 20th century, but what she does cover is very well done.

Clothing Catalogs

Clothing catalogs are a wonderful source of information on period clothing. Some caution has to be used a specific stores commonly targeted ceratain market sectors. Thus they are not aperfect reflection of contemporary fashions. They are, however, a very important source. This is especially the case when the catalogs provide ad copy describing the styling, colors, material, and other factors. A similar source is retail advertising, but these items are scattered in a wide range of newspapers and magazines. For HBC's purposes we have commbined clothing catalogs and advertisements together to get a better idea of chronological trends. HBC has used the catalogs of many different stores and compasnies around the world. Obtaining compies of these catalogs is oftern difficult. Some researches have compiled books sampling these catalogs which are more available to readers. Of course ther sampling involves a selection process which may affect the usefulness of these volumes.

Costume

A German reader tells us that she has found. Costume, to be a very helpful resource on fashion. It is not specifically about children's clothes, but has some useful information on the subject. The book was written by L. Rowland-Warne. The photography was by Liz McAulay. A. The clothing book is from a series, the "Eyewitness Books" published byby Dorling kindersley (London). These are very useful introductions to various topics, in this case clothing and fashion. The book was published in 1992. The foreign publishers include: and Gallimard (Paris) and Hildesheim (Gerstenberg). The editor offers the reader the opportunity to "Discocer the history and meaning of clothing--from loincloths to buckskins to the ever-changing fashions of today." The book is also available in English and French and perhaps other languages. Costume is a fascinating look at the history of fashion and clothing, illustrated with informative color photographs including accessories and designs. The book begins with the Romans and runs through the Renaissance to the modern age. The author includes all kinds of interesting fashion accessories such as hairpins, fans, and gloves. Rather than drawings, the author has used recreations or vintage clothes and fashion accessories to illustrate and compare many popular styles. Our German reader writes, "The publishing house of this book is well respected in Germany and the text is very well researched. Lots of the English Dorling Kindersley titles are translated to German. They are very good." A French reader tells us, "I have found this nook very useful as well. I bought both the French and English editions which has helped to understand many technical terms."






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Created: 6:54 AM 11/14/2005
Last updated: 3:52 PM 11/16/2005