Stitching La Mode: Patterns and Dressmaking from Fashion Plates of 1785-1795

Stitching La Mode: Patterns and Dressmaking from Fashion Plates of 1785-1795 brings to life women’s unique and extravagant fashions of 1785-1795 in a beautifully illustrated and accessible way.

The book consists of scaled patterns directly based on original French, German and English fashion plates drafted according to period-accurate shapes. The patterns encompass the full look presented in each fashion plate from garments to accessories. These are accompanied by a color image of the corresponding fashion plate, straightforward, illustrated directions for recreating the outfits, information on the material used, and modelled reproductions of each plate to demonstrate what they would look like in ＂real life＂. The book focuses on unique styles often seen in fashion plates but rarely - if ever - patterned before, making this a fresh and exciting yet historically accurate take on late eighteenth-century fashion.

Stitching La Mode significantly expands the understanding of transitional fashions from the late eighteenth century with concrete, physical examples of styles, perfectly suited for costume technicians and makers, costume historians, and hobby costumers and re-enactors.

Carolyn Dowdell is an academic dress historian with a master’s degree from the University of Alberta, Canada and doctorate from Queen’s University, Canada in the field of Dress History and Material Culture Studies. She is a social media personality and content developer under the brand name ＂The Modern Mantua Maker＂.