A Tailoring Guide to Pattern Drafting offers pattern drafting instructions for men’s most popular tailored garment styles from 1850 to 1900, used in theatres and film productions today.

The book features a wide range of 19th-century garments, providing information and detailed instructions on the frock coat, morning coat, lounge jacket, smoking jacket, shirt, waistcoats, trousers and long-riding breeches. It includes a brief history of each garment, accompanied by colourful illustrations and easy-to-follow instruction to draft historical 19th-century silhouettes for modern performances. The book features:

• A brief history of each garment, accompanied by full-colour illustrations.
• Modern step-by-step instructions with clear diagrams to draft 19th-century menswear.
• Instructions incorporating both the imperial and metric systems.
• Recommendations on choosing the appropriate modern-day equivalent fabric.
• Recommendations on the quantity of the fabric.
• Recommendations on the button size to make the garment appear more authentic.
• A table of Dress Code Ethics for Gentlemen from 1850 to 1900.
• Descriptions and visual information on how to take accurate measurements.
• Photographs of costumes and images of the 19th-century Carte de Visite for visual support.

A Tailoring Guide to Pattern Drafting is intended for anyone with a desire to learn or refine their costume-cutting skills for theatre and film production. The book is aimed at undergraduate and graduate students, tutors and both amateur and professional makers interested in the subject.

To access the author’s YouTube channel, featuring 130 step-by-step lessons to make a 19th-century Morning Coat using classical tailoring techniques, visit www.routledge.com/9780367265335.

“With its extensive visual references, patternmaking guides, and sewing directions, Lawton's book serves as a comprehensive resource for constructing high-quality tailored menswear re-creations. Overall, this guide provides a comprehensive and practical reference to constructing key Victorian and Edwardian pieces for today’s theatrical and cinematic needs. This is an excellent book for those with an interest in creating men’s historical costumes.”

K. Wagner, Western Michigan University, CHOICE, May 2024 Vol. 61 No. 9

Katerina Lawton is a Senior Lecturer on the BA (Hons) Costume course at the Arts University Bournemouth, a recipient of The Queen’s Anniversary Prize winner for Higher and Further Education from 2016 to 2018 and the winner of the silver award for costumes for the 2012 Olympics. She holds a BA (Hons) in costume, a master’s degree in Tailoring and a Professional Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) teaching qualification. Katerina is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA). She has worked or made costumes for organisations like the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the National Theatre, Glyndebourne Opera Theatre, Brownsea Open Air Theatre (BOAT), the Oxford Theatre, the Mayflower Theatre and the Wessex Museums Partnership.