Patternmaking History and Theory

Description

Fashion design is increasingly gaining attention as an important form of cultural expression. However, scholarship has largely focused on specific designers and their finished products. This collection reveals the crucial foundational art and craft of patternmaking design, with essays that explore the practice in specific historical and cultural contexts. Probing the theoretical underpinnings that inform patternmaking, Patternmaking History and Theory interrogates topics that span cultures and time periods, ranging from high fashion to home sewing. Taking the reader from women's making and mending for victory during World War Two, to Jamaican dress history and today's complex 3D pattern cutting software, the book examines the creative aspect of a culturally rich skill. Beautifully illustrated and rooted in original research, Patternmaking History and Theory brings together a group of leading international scholars to provide a range of perspectives on a key but often overlooked aspect of design.

Jennifer Grayer Moore is Lecturer of Fashion and Textiles at The Pratt Institute, New York, USA.

Highlighting important new ideas from contemporary experts, Patternmaking History and Theory is one of the first of its kind. This is an exciting contribution to pattern cutting literature. * Kevin Almond, Organiser and Chair of 'The Second International Conference for Creative Pattern Cutting', 2016 * Well-researched histories of patternmaking are rare because of the dual requirements for scholars to have technical expertise as well as skills in historical research. This book demonstrates that such specialists exist. [A] much-needed perspective on fashion history. * Susan L. Hannel, University of Rhode Island, USA * This collection of essays provides a clear and coherent taste of the range of ways in which paying greater attention to pattern making, both historically and today, can deepen understandings of dress and culture more widely. Despite the varied locations and times explored by these pieces, they are all connected by continuing themes which are well brought out under Moore's editorship. All the contributors also excel at successfully communicating highly technical and specialised language through clear terminology and illustrations, making their important research accessible for non pattern makers or dress specialists. This is a nuanced and needed publication that fills a gap in the scholarship and opens up many new avenues for further research. * The Journal of Dress History *