Recommended medieval and Renaissance costume books. For theatrical productions, reenactors, SCA, and living history, these resources are excellent for ideas about fashions and their construction. You'll probably need to consult more than one or two to check on authenticity and practical techniques. They're also fascinating just to browse through for insight into women's lives.
1. Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd
By Janet Arnold. If you can afford to get this book, it's a treasure -- and necessary for the serious costumer constructing or writing about women's dresses -- especially among the well-to-do of the Elizabethan period in England. Manuscripts in the Folder Shakespeare Library and the British Library were used to document what women really wore during that time.
2. Patterns of Fashion: The Cut and Construction of Clothes
"... for Men and Women c. 1560 - 1620." By Janet Arnold. A respected and authoritative guide to what people wore, especially European or British, for the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Beginners should note: the patterns are good starting points but require adaptation to the particular individual before cutting the fabric.3. Authentic Everyday Dress of the Renaissance
Subtitle: "All 154 Plates from the Trachtenbuch." By Christopher Weiditz. See what people of the Renaissance looked like, as a contemporary sketched them. Includes many different classes of people from a variety of countries.4. Medieval Costume in England and France
Subtitle: "The 13th, 14th and 15th Centuries." By Mary Houston. A Dover book, so it's of reasonable cost, and it is generally considered accurate (though checking other sources is always a good idea). Many illustrations and text to describe the costumes and their construction technique.5. Tudor Costume and Fashion
By Herbert Norris. A Dover book, the illustrations are rich but the price isn't. The pictures tend to be of English dress (the Tudors were, after all, an English ruling family!), but for Shakespearean costume or other Tudor-era garb, this book will provide good inspiration.6. Medieval Costume and Fashion
By Herbert Norris. A Dover reprint of another costume classic.7. Elizabethan Costuming (For The Years 1550 - 1580)
By Janet Winter. For costumers working in theater, it may also be of use to the reenactor. Includes many notes about how to construct costumes, not just illustrations of costumes themselves. Because many of the Elizabethan items aren't common today (how often have you constructed a farthingdale?), this will be a valuable resource for the practical costumer.8. Hispanic Costume: 1480-1530.
By Ruth M. Anderson. So many costume books for this period focus on British fashions, that this one is a welcome change. Spanish fashions influenced European trends during this period, Despite the name, there is little on Portugal and there is some on Italian fashions.9. Vecellio's Renaissance Costume Book
Subtitle: "All 500 Woodcut Illustrations from the Famous 16th Century Compendium of World Costume." A fascinating contemporary resource -- but about as accurate as using a collection of Vogue fashion drawings to illustrate women's everyday fashions in the late 20th century.