Resources

Dear Readers,
   Here you will find everything I’ve found useful – links to wig websites, online costume collections, how-to sites, fabric stores, must-have books, and favourite movies.  I will add to this list again and again as I find new sites online that I find useful for us wacky 18th c. costumers!  Links in bold are those I have particularly useful.  Have at it!…

Fabric & Trim

Wigs

Hats
  • Topsy Turvy Design – amazing, hand-crafted hats
  • Hats in the Belfry – huge selection of myriad variety of hats. Mid-range pricing.
  • TopHats.com – my go-to source for costume hats; top hats, tricorns, ladies straw bonnets, very affordable.
  • Timely Tresses – Hats and supplies, 1800-1870
  • CR’s Crafts – this in an online shop for doll’s clothes, but they have a selection of tiny top hats!

18th c. General Stores, Costumiers, & Suttlers

18th c. Shoes & Accessories

Books on Costume

Movies Set in the 18th c.

  • Marie Antoinette – a fantastic production starring Kirsten Dunst.  Uber-costume-win.
  • The Duchess – Kiera Knightly, Ralph Fiennes, beautiful costumes, heavy plot.
  • Dangerous Liaisons – the go-to costume movie of the 1980s, with John Malkovich, Glenn Close, Uma Thurman, Keanu Reeves (lol?), Michelle Pfeiffer.  A film about seduction.
  • Jefferson in Paris – interesting movie with some beautiful costumes, following Thomas Jefferson’s ambassadorship in France at the end of the 18th c.
  • The Affair of the Necklace – bad plot, great late 18th c. costumes!
Sewing Patterns for 18th c. Costuming
  • The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmaking – gridded patterns and diagrams for gown linings, caps, hats, aprons, mitts, etc.
  • Simplicity 8578, 8579 – mid-18th century underpinnings and Robe a la Francaise pattern. Use these two packets together – shift, stays, hoops + petticoat and gown.
  • Simplicity 8161, 8162 – women’s general 18th century underpinnings, gown, and bodice. Cosplay pattern – non HA – but a good start.
  • The Recollections of JP Ryan – fairly solid patterns for men and women.  I used the men’s frock coat and waistcoat patterns with success, but the breeches pattern was poo-poo.  The ladies patterns look divine, but I’ve not used them yet.  A little pricey, I find.
  • Kannik’s Korner – I find this site hard to use, but they do offer men and women’s patterns for simple thinks like caps, chemises, pockets and hose.  The men’s patterns are a little more complete, with pants, waistcoats, and shirts.
  • Regency Reproductions – for Regency style of dress for ladies.  I have no used these patterns, but I like that they offer a wide selection, with options for the gowns, and patterns for jackets, stays, and children’s clothing.
  • Simplicity – a pattern for a robe a la francaise, as well as a pattern for 18th c. underpinnings that includes stays, panniers, pockets, and a chemise. OUT OF PRINT, but available on Etsy & eBay.
  • Butterick – pattern #4254 for 18th c. stays.  I love this pattern.  The envelope also includes 19th c. corsets in two styles.
  • Larkin & Smith – At the Sign of the Golden Scissors – patterns for 18th c. accessories and gowns.