The Cut of Men's Clothes 1600-1900

This book traces the evolution of the style of men's dress through a sequence of diagrams accurately scaled down from patterns of actual garments, many of them rare museum specimens. The plates have been selected with the same purpose. Some are photographs of suits for which diagrams have also been given; others, reproduced from paintings and old prints, show the costume complete with its accessories. Quotations from contemporary sources--from diaries, travelers' accounts and tailors' bills--supplements Miss Waugh's text with comments on fashion and lively eyewitness descriptions.
Judicious quotations and diagrams from the few surviving early books on tailoring add spice as well as accuracy to the discussion.

Norah Waugh lectured and supervised practical work on historic costume in the Theatre Department of the Central School of Art and Design in London. In the late 1930s she was in charge of costume at the London Theatre Studio run by Michel Saint-Denis.

This book traces the evolution of the style of men's dress through a sequence of diagrams accurately scaled down from patterns of actual garments, many of them rare museum specimens. The plates have been selected with the same purpose. Some are photographs of suits for which diagrams have also been given; others, reproduced from paintings and old prints, show the costume complete with its accessories. Quotations from contemporary sources--from diaries, travelers' accounts and tailors' bills--supplement Norah Waugh's text with comments on fashion and lively eyewitness descriptions.