When I wrote The Corset Diaries, I was delighted to finally be able to put to use my collection of Victorian culture, ettiquette, and dress books, especially since I was able to point to each book I used while telling my husband, "You see? This is a perfect example of just why I need to buy lots and lots of research books!"

Although he wouldn't go so far as to admitting that I should be allowed carte blanche on places such as e-Bay, he did admit that he would make an effort not to roll his eyes the next time he saw me stagger home with an armload of research books.

I have six or seven volumes on Victorian clothing, most of which I used while writing CD. Some of the costumes Tessa wore are pure figments of my imagination, but others had their basis in gowns featured in women's fashion magazines such as Harper's Bazar, Le Journal des Demoiselles, Le Moniteur des Dames et des Demoiselles, and La Mode Illustree.

Because I know some readers are interested in seeing the drawings of the gowns on which I based the ones Tessa wore, I'm including a few of the more noteworthy ones here.

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	One of Tessa's day dresses. I believe this is the dress she wore her first day on site. This dress is from Victorian and Edwardian Fashions from "La Mode Ilustree" edited by JoAnne Olian.
	This riding habit, from Victorian Fashions & Costumes from Harper's Bazar 1867-1898 edited by Stella Blum, was pretty close to the one Tessa wore, although I modified the cut of the jacket slightly.
	This Grecian dress, also from Harper's Bazar, was used pretty much as described in the book, right down to the white and blue cashmere. Of all of Tessa's gowns, this is my favorite.
	This tennis dress was also used more or less as shown in English Women's Clothing in the Nineteenth Century by C. Willett Cunnington. I can't possibly imagine trying to move quickly in it.
	This dress, with all its ghastly pink bows, was the one that Tessa wore for the formal dinner party. It is shown in Full-Color Victorian Fashions 1870-1893 edited by JoAnne Olian. I used it exactly as it was described--pink faille, white mousseline, and loads and loads of lace, as well as the "ladder of pink ribbon bows [which] follow the flaps and descends to the hem." Kind of makes you flinch, huh?

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