There is no such thing as too many costume books! Here you will find every book I have and recommend on my bookshelf. I’ve put my particular favorites in bold. Enjoy!:
16th and 17th Century Sewing and Fashion Books:
- Patterns of Fashion 3: The Cut and Construction of Clothes for Men and Women C. 1560-1620
- Pattern of Fashion 4
- The Modern Maker Vol. 2: Pattern Manual 1580-1640: Men’s and women’s drafts from the late 16th through mid 17th centuries. (Volume 2)
- The Tudor Tailor: Reconstructing Sixteenth-Century Dress
- Period Costume for Stage and Screen: Patterns for Women’s Dress 1500-1800 (Practical Period Costume)
- Tudor Fashion: Dress at Court
- Fashioning the Early Modern: Dress, Textiles, and Innovation in Europe, 1500-1800 (Pasold Studies in Textile History)
- Elizabethan Costume Design and Construction (The Focal Press Costume Topics Series)
- Queen Elizabeth’s Wardrobe Unlock’d
- Seventeenth-Century Women’s Dress Patterns: Book 1
- Seventeenth-Century Women’s Dress Patterns: Book 2
- 17th-Century Men’s Dress Patterns
- Historical Fashion in Detail: The 17th and 18th Centuries (English and Spanish Edition)
- Drei Schnittbucher: Three Austrian Master Tailor Books of the 16th Century
18th Century Sewing and Fashion Books:
- The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmaking The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Beauty
- Fashion: The Collection of the Kyoto Costume Institute
- Cut of Women’s Clothes, The, 1600-1930
- Patterns of Fashion 1: 1660-1860
- The Art of Dress: Fashion in England and France, 1750-1820
- Dress in France in the Eighteenth Century
- Dress in Eighteenth-Century Europe 1715-1789
- Eighteenth-Century French Fashions in Full Color
- Everyday Dress of Rural America, 1783-1800: With Instructions and Patterns
- English Costume of the Eighteenth Century
- Embroidered with White: The 18th Century Fashion for Dresden Lace and Other Whiteworked Accessories
- The Eighteenth Century (History of Costume and Fashion)
- Historical Fashion in Detail: The 17th and 18th Centuries
- Men’s Seventeenth & Eighteenth Century Costume: Cut and Fashion
- Handbook of English costume in the eighteenth century,
- Shoes and Slippers: From Snowshill, One of the World’s Leading Collections of Costume and Accessories of the 18th and 19th Centuries
- Fashioning Fashion: European Dress in Detail, 1700 – 1915
- Vintage Hats & Bonnets 1770-1970 Second Edition
- 18th Century Embroidery Techniques
- Costume Close-Up: Clothing Construction and Pattern, 1750-1790
- Eighteenth-Century Clothing at Williamsburg (Williamsburg Decorative Arts Series)
- Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution
- Fashion Victims: Dress at the Court of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette
- Turquerie: An Eighteenth-Century European Fantasy
- Jean-Etienne Liotard: 1702-1789
- Fitting & Proper
- The Cut of Men’s Clothes: 1600-1900
- What Clothes Reveal: The Language of Clothing in Colonial and Federal America (Williamsburg Decorative Arts)
- Costume in Detail: 1730-1930
- Corsets: Historical Patterns & Techniques
- Stays and Corsets: Historical Patterns Translated for the Modern Body
- Corsets and Crinolines
- An Agreeable Tyrant: Fashion After the Revolution
- Patterns of Fashion 5: The Content, Cut, Construction, and Context of Bodies, Stays, Hoops and Rumps c. 1595 – 1795
19th Century Sewing and Fashion Books:
- Costume in Detail: 1730-1930
- Corsets: Historical Patterns & Techniques
- Stays and Corsets: Historical Patterns Translated for the Modern Body
- Corsets and Crinolines
- Corset Cutting and Making: RevisedEdition
- Bloomingdale’s Illustrated 1886 Catalog – Fashions, Dry Goods & Housewares
- Authentic Victorian Dressmaking Techniques
- Victorian and Edwardian Fashion: A Photographic Survey (Dover Fashion and Costumes)
- French Fashion Plates of the Romantic Era in Full Color: 120 Plates from the “Petit Courrier des Dames,” 1830-34
- 80 Godey’s Full-Color Fashion Plates: 1838-1880 (Dover Fashion and Costumes)
- Victorian Fashions and Costumes from Harper’s Bazar, 1867-1898 (Dover Fashion and Costumes) (2000-01-02)
- Nineteenth Century Fashion in Detail
- The Victorian Tailor: An Introduction to Period Tailoring
- 60 Civil War-Era Fashion Patterns (Dover Fashion and Costumes)
- English Women’s Clothing in the Nineteenth Century: A Comprehensive Guide with 1,117 Illustrations (Dover Fashion and Costumes)
- Period Costume for Stage & Screen: Patterns for Women’s Dress, 1800-1909
- Authentic Victorian Fashion Patterns: A Complete Lady’s Wardrobe (Dover Fashion and Costumes)
- Shoes, Hats and Fashion Accessories: A Pictorial Archive, 1850-1940 (Dover Pictorial Archive)
- The Voice of Fashion: 79 Turn-Of-The Century Patterns With Instructions and Fashion Plates
- Bustle Fashions 1885-1887: 41 Patterns with Fashion Plates and Suggestions for Adaptation
- The Lady’s Stratagem: A Repository of 1820s Directions for the Toilet, Mantua-Making, Stay-Making, Millinery & Etiquette
- Fashions of the Gilded Age, Volume 2: Evening, Bridal, Sports, Outerwear, Accessories, and Dressmaking 1877-1882
- Fashions of the Gilded Age, Volume 1: Undergarments, Bodices, Skirts, Overskirts, Polonaises, and Day Dresses 1877-1882
- The Edwardian Modiste: 85 Authentic Patterns With Instructions, Fashion Plates, and Period Sewing Techniques
- Directoire Revival Fashions 1888-1889: 57 Patterns with Fashion Plates and Suggestions for Adaptation
- Reconstruction Era Fashions: 350 Sewing, Needlework, and Millinery Patterns 1867-1868
- Patterns of Fashion 1: Englishwomen’s Dresses and Their Construction C. 1660-1860
- Patterns of Fashion 2
- Cowgirls: Women of the Wild West
- The Victorian Dressmaker
- Embellishments: Constructing Victorian Detail
- The Workwoman’s Guide, 1838 (out of print, but also available on Google Books as a PDF)
20th Century Sewing and Fashion Books:
- Vintage Lingerie: 30 Patterns Based on Period Garments Plus Finishing Techniques
- Vintage Swimwear: Historical Patterns and Techniques
- Jazz Age Fashion: Dressed to Kill by Virginia Bates, Daisy Bates (2013) Hardcover
- Everyday Fashions of the Fifties As Pictured in Sears Catalogs (Dover Fashion and Costumes)
- Everyday Fashions of the Forties As Pictured in Sears Catalogs (Dover Fashion and Costumes)
- Everyday Fashions, 1909-1920, As Pictured in Sears Catalogs (Dover Fashion and Costumes)
- Everyday Fashions of the Thirties As Pictured in Sears Catalogs (Dover Fashion and Costumes)
- Everyday Fashions of the Twenties: As Pictured in Sears and Other Catalogs (Dover Fashion and Costumes)
- American Style and Spirit: The Fashions and Lives of the Roddis Family, 1850-1995
- Dressing the Man: Mastering the Art of Permanent Fashion
- Fit for a Queen: Her Majesty Queen Sirikit s Creations by Balmain
- Charles James: Beyond Fashion (Metropolitan Museum of Art (Hardcover))
- 20th-Century Fashion in Detail
- Chanel and Her World
- Gertie’s New Book for Better Sewing:: A Modern Guide to Couture-Style Sewing Using Basic Vintage Techniques (Gertie’s Sewing)
- Gertie’s Ultimate Dress Book: A Modern Guide to Sewing Fabulous Vintage Styles (Gertie’s Sewing)
- Gertie Sews Vintage Casual: A Modern Guide to Sportswear Styles of the 1940s and 1950s (Gertie’s Sewing)
- London Society Fashion 1905–1925: The Wardrobe of Heather Firbank
- Art Deco Fashion
- Art Deco Hair: Hairstyles from the 1920s & 1930s (Vintage Living)
- Art Nouveau Fashion
- 1930s Fashion: The Definitive Sourcebook
Stays, Corsets, and Underpinnings Books:
- Corsets: Historical Patterns & Techniques
- Stays and Corsets: Historical Patterns Translated for the Modern Body
- Corsets and Crinolines
- The History of Underclothes (Dover Fashion and Costumes)
- The Basics of Corset Building: A Handbook for Beginners
- Vintage Lingerie: 30 Patterns Based on Period Garments Plus Finishing Techniques
- Corset Cutting and Making: RevisedEdition
Historic Hairstyling, Makeup, and Wigs Books:
- The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Beauty
- Wig Making and Styling: A Complete Guide for Theatre & Film
- Historical Wig Styling: Ancient Egypt to the 1830s (The Focal Press Costume Topics Series) (Volume 1)
- Historical Wig Styling: Victorian to the Present (The Focal Press Costume Topics Series) (Volume 2)
- 18th Century Hair & Wig Styling: History & Step-by-Step Techniques by Kendra Van Cleave (2014-08-01)
- Art Deco Hair: Hairstyles from the 1920s & 1930s (Vintage Living)
- Vintage Hairstyling: Retro Styles with Step-by-Step Techniques by Lauren Rennells (August 1, 2009) Paperback
- Retro Makeup: Techniques for Applying the Vintage Look by Lauren Rennells (April 25, 2011) Paperback
- Vintage Hairstyles: Simple Steps for Retro Hair with a Modern Twist
Shoes and Footwear Books:
- Womens Shoes in America, 1795-1930
- Vintage Shoes: Collecting and Wearing Twentieth-Century Designer Footwear
- Shoes: An Illustrated History
- Shoes: A History From Sandals to Sneakers
- Shoes: The Complete Sourcebook
- M. de Garsault’s 1767 Art of the Shoemaker: An Annotated Translation
- Footwear: Shoes and Boots from the Hopkins Collection
- Treasures Afoot: Shoe Stories From The Georgian Era
Hats and Headdress Books:
- Vintage Hats & Bonnets 1770-1970: Identification & Values, 2nd Edition
- Hats!: Make Classic Hats and Headpieces in Fabric, Felt, and Straw
- Period Reproduction Buckram Hats: The Costumer’s Guide (The Focal Press Costume Topics Series) by Crystal G. Herman (2015-11-23)
- Plumes: Ostrich Feathers, Jews, and a Lost World of Global Commerce
Surveys of Dress, Costume, and Other General Books:
- Fairchild’s Dictionary of Textiles, 7th Edition
- The Art of Dress: Clothes and Society 1500-1914
- 100 Dresses: The Costume Institute / The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Fashion: A History from the 18th to the 20th Century (Taschen, No. 25) (Midi S.) (2 Volumes)
- Fashioning Fashion: European Dress in Detail, 1700-1915
General Sewing and Patterning Books and Miscellany:
- Elizabeth Friendship: Creating Historical Clothes : Pattern Cutting from Tudor to Victorian Times (Paperback); 2013 Edition
- Couture Sewing: Tailoring Techniques
- Couture Sewing Techniques
- The Pattern Making Primer: All You Need to Know About Designing, Adapting, and Customizing Sewing Patterns
- Vogue Sewing, Revised and Updated
- The Perfect Fit (Singer Sewing Reference Library)
- Fast Fit: Easy Pattern Alterations for Every Figure
- The Art of Manipulating Fabric
- Ribbonwork: The Complete Guide- Techniques for Making Ribbon Flowers and Trimmings
- The Artful Ribbon: Beauties in Bloom
- Vintage Couture Tailoring by von Nordheim, Thomas (9/1/2012)
- Draping: The Complete Course
Vintage Knitting and Sewing With Knits:
- Sweater Girls: 20 Patterns for Starlet Sweaters, Retro Wraps & Glamour Knits (Paperback) – Common
- Sewing with Knits: Classic, Stylish Garments from Swimsuits to Eveningwear (Focus on Fabric) by Connie Long (2000-03-01)
- The Colette Guide to Sewing Knits: Professional Techniques for Beautiful Everyday Garments by Alyson Clair (2014-04-02)
- Vintage Design Workshop: Knitting Techniques for Modern Style
- Stitch ‘n Bitch: The Knitter’s Handbook
Disclaimer: Most of the above links are affiliate links. I receive a small commission on these products sold through Amazon.