After starting a group for locals who might be similarly interested in historical and vintage clothing, I realised that most of the resources I’d seen were for women.
I guess it makes sense – I wasn’t really exploring the creation of a 1890s Gentleman’s ensemble for myself!
But when I started trying to find resources for the gents in my group, I realised that it wasn’t something easily found!
Granted – in the age of algorithm-populated search results, the chances of finding something that deviates from my normal profile is greatly decreased – so perhaps there are loads of resources, but for someone like me, they just don’t show up. Who’s to say.
It is possible, however, that given the status quo of the day, more resources were provided through magazines and catalogues for women of the home to sew for themselves and their children. {Though again, why no patterns for them to sew for their husbands?}
Men worked. Those who were tailors would have apprenticed under other tailors. They were taught their trade hands-on, without the use of printed manuals or guides. But these are just my musings.
In any case, for any men who are looking for historical Victorian (or thereabouts) tailoring guides or patterns, hopefully this list of digitized freebies will get you started.
The Taylor’s Complete Guide; or a Comprehensive Analysis of Beauty and Elegance in Dress.
London, 1796
https://brbl-dl.library.yale.edu/vufind/Record/3445354
(pattern plates A B C (upon printing, plate C wasn’t needed) D )
The Tailor
London, Publisher was active 1800-1850s more or less
https://archive.org/details/tailorlondon00londrich
The Taylor’s Assistant – Rules and Directions for Cutting Men’s Clothes
by Amanda Jones 1822
https://archive.org/details/rulesdirectionsf00jone/page/n1
The Gentleman’s Magazine of Fashion (dates approximate, as each volume contains multiple dates) There appear to have been two pages of patterns per publishing.
https://books.google.com/books?id=wRcGAAAAQAAJ 1870
https://books.google.com/books?id=4BcGAAAAQAAJ 1871
https://books.google.com/books?id=_xcGAAAAQAAJ 1872- 1874
https://books.google.com/books?id=SBgGAAAAQAAJ 1877
Vest cutting, a manual for the practical tailor and cutter
by Hecklinger, Charles 1883
https://archive.org/details/vestcuttingmanua00heck/
The Science of Coat and Vest Cutting
by Henry Kennedy 1891
https://archive.org/details/scienceofcoatves00kenn/
Economy in Cutting (A series of tables and diagrams illustrating economy in cutting, being economical methods for cutting out garments)
Not so much a tailoring guide, but a collection of layout suggestions on how best to position pattern pieces for decreased waste of fabric.
by John Falconer 1894
https://archive.org/details/seriesoftablesdi00jfjo/
Stone’s new superlative coat and vest system, based upon the proportions of the human form
by Charles John Stone 1900
https://archive.org/details/stonesnewsuperla01ston
The Blue Book of Men’s Tailoring
by Frederick Croonborg 1907
https://archive.org/details/grandeditionofsu00croo/page/n8
Short Methods – A Treatise on Cutting, Designing, & Manufacturing Men’s Clothing
by Charles Albert Snodgrass 1911
https://archive.org/details/shortmethodstrea00snod/page/n6
Stone’s Scientific System of Grading Patterns for Men’s Garments
by Charles John Stone 1912
https://archive.org/details/stonesscientific00ston/page/n6
Popular Gentleman System for Cutting and Designing Men’s Garments
From an old catalogue, 1917
https://archive.org/details/populargentleman00popu/page/n2
Miscellaneous
The following images and documents are ones that I saved to a harddrive a long (10+yrs?) time ago.
I have no idea where they came from, but I would have seen them online and saved for personal reference.
If any of this is in breech of copyright, please let me know so that I can comply.
If credit should be cited, I am more than happy to do so.
Morning Coat, Dress Coat, Midshipman Full Dress Coat
Gentlemen’s Trousers