Fashionable White-Embroidered Accessories c1840 to 1900

• Heather Toomer
• 192 pages
• Over 30 patterns
• Over 350 illustrations in colour and black and white
• Paperback
• 8 ¼in x 8 ¼in (21cm x 21cm)

This sequel to Heather Toomer's works on 18th and early 19th century lace fashions continues the story of whiteworked costume accessories to the end of the 19th century. Throughout this period white fabrics provided a finishing touch to women's necklines and wrists and, as textile prices fell with industrialisation, were worn by a wider population. A proliferation of fashion magazines also encouraged interest in the rapidly changing fashion world and, although many could afford only decorative machine products, wealthier customers still supported the luxury hand textile industries.

White collars, cuffs, chemisettes and newly devised undersleeves that filled the openings of wide bodice sleeves were the main focus of embroidery. The fine, raised whitework of earlier decades continued in a slightly altered form and was joined by the new embroideries, particularly broderie anglaise and guipure cutworks. The many changes in the accessories themselves, their relationship with the underlying dress, and the varying embroidery styles used are followed in numerous contemporary fashion plates, embroidery patterns and photographs of original articles. Measurements and scaled patterns are also provided for those interested in recreating garments.

This book will be of interest to anyone concerned with the care and cataloguing of a costume or embroidery collection, embroiderers and other designers seeking inspiration, fans of lace, costume and general social historians and anyone with a love of fine craftsmanship.

Heather Toomer is a freelance lecturer, author and consultant on antique lace and whitework embroideries, being particularly concerned with their identification, their use in costume and the history of their craft industries. Heather has worked with several museums over her 45 year career, advising and assisting with collections and displays, including a review of the hand-made lace collection in the Nottingham Museum. This review helped the lace collection as a whole, including its collection of machine laces, designated as a collection of national importance.