“There are moments that you’ll remember for the rest of your life and there are moments that you think you’ll remember for the rest of your life, and it’s not often they turn out to be the same moment.” ― Maggie Stiefvater, The Scorpio Races

happy birthday geena!

1. MAKE AN ACCOUNT on Wattpad if you don’t already have one (it’s free and takes like two seconds)

2. FOLLOW THIS LINK: https://www.wattpad.com/334893598-nomenclature-tnthorrorcontest-nomenclature 

3. PRESS THE VOTE button (there’s a little gold star next to it) in the upper right-hand corner or scroll down and press it at the bottom. 

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• Read, and read about more than just costuming.  Allowing yourself to understand the cultural and historical context surrounding the clothing of a particular region/period can be invaluable in sussing out good costume design.  Looking at pictures is all well and good, but reading about societal pressures, about construction techniques, daily routines, local symbolism, whatever else will really help you understand the rhyme and reason behind costuming from any given context.
• Expand your costume vocabulary.  When you’re delving into a new topic, costuming or otherwise, picking up new terminology is essential to proper understanding and furthering your research.  Write down or take note of terms as you come across them- google them, look up synonyms, and use those words as a jumping off point for more research.  What’s a wire rebato?  How does it differ from a supportasse?  Inquiring minds want to know.
• Double-check your sources.  Especially on the internet, and double especially on tumblr.  I love it, but it’s ground zero for rapidly spreading misinformation.  Books are usually your safest bet, but also take into account their date of publication, who’s writing them- an author’s biases can severely mangle their original source material.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help.  Do everything you can to find out information on your own, but feel free to reach out to people with more specialized areas of knowledge for help!  Be considerate about it- the people you’re asking are busy as well- but a specific line of questioning that proves you’re passionate and that you respect their subject matter expertise can work wonders.

• British Costume from Earliest Times to 1820 Fine book with lots of first hand sources, but be wary of the photography in the book- reproduction costumes and thus somewhat less reliable.  Though hilarious.
• Corsets and Crinolines Norah Waugh’s invaluable survey of corsetry and corset patterns- used the world ‘round by modern corsetieres.
• Costume in Detail: Women’s Dress 1730-1930 Elaborate line drawings/diagrams of extant period garments!  A fantastic survey.
• Cut of Men’s Clothes PDF available online!  Patterns for men’s period garments.
• Cut of Women’s Clothes Patterns for women’s period garments.
• Greenwood Encyclopedia of Clothing Through World History This is a library find, unless you have a pretty three hundred bucks lying around- a great, general resource.
• A History of Costume A lot of good text and info, to be taken with a grain of salt. Be wary of any reconstructions and or “supposed” patterns that aren’t directly based on extant garments or firsthand accounts.
• Fashion (Taschen 25th Anniversary) A survey of the Kyoto Costume Institute’s fashion collection- broad but beautiful.  On every fashion student’s bookcase.
• Fashion: The Definitive History of Costume and Style Great overview of fashion history from the Smithsonian and DK publishing.
• The History of Costume: From the Ancient Mesopotamians Through the Twentieth Century Broad costume survey, second edition.
• What People Wore: 1,800 Illustrations from Ancient Times to the Early Twentieth Century this is one of those “I am putting this here because I used it a ton when I was younger” but man, mixed bag.  Really cool survey to browse through, but also work that is a copy-of-a-copy-of-a-copy in most instances and thus not necessarily trustworthy as a resource.
• What People Wore When: A Complete Illustrated History of Costume from Ancient Times to the Nineteenth Century for Every Level of Society A collection of Racinet and Hottentoth’s costume plates from the 19th century.  A beautiful survey but, since these are later illustrations, to be taken with a grain of salt.

• Patterns of Fashion: The Cut and Construction of Clothes for Men and Women, C.1560-1620
• Patterns of Fashion 1: Englishwomen’s Dresses & Their Construction C. 1660-1860
• Patterns of Fashion 2: Englishwomen’s Dresses & Their Construction C. 1860-1940
• Patterns of Fashion 4: The Cut and Construction of Linen Shirts, Smocks, Neckwear, Headwear and Accessories for Men and Women C. 1540-1660

• Nineteenth Century Fashion in Detail
• Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century Fashion in Detail
• Underwear: Fashion in Detail
• World Dress: Fashion in Detail The one non-western entry in the series.
• Fashioning Fashion: European Dress in Detail, 1700 - 1915 LACMA’s response to the V&A’s series mentioned above, also an invaluable resource for historical fashion detail.

1. MAKE AN ACCOUNT on Wattpad if you don’t already have one (it’s free and takes like two seconds)

2. FOLLOW THIS LINK: https://www.wattpad.com/334893598-nomenclature-tnthorrorcontest-nomenclature 

3. PRESS THE VOTE button (there’s a little gold star next to it) in the upper right-hand corner or scroll down and press it at the bottom. 

4. SHARE. share it with everyone.  

GIF by samisoffthewall