8The many different nationalities that settled in colonial America formed a rich mosaic of European cultures. Nowhere were the distinguishing characteristics of each more apparent than in the "good clothes" they brought with them from their homelands. Artist Tom Tierney celebrates these early immigrants -- English, Dutch, French, Spanish, and others -- in one of his finest paper doll collections, featuring colonial fashions from about 1600 to 1770. Eleven paper dolls, eight of them fully dressed, display in full color 21 authentically detailed costumes worn by New World settlers for special occasions.
Among the costumes are elegant court gowns and the classic silk and woolen capes worn by the Spanish. The English Puritans' "playne" dark woolen clothing; the lace-trimmed fashions of the Dutch; the ornate garments, richly detailed with lace, ribbons and frills, favored by the French settlers; and other splendid fashions of German, Norwegian, Portuguese, and Swiss origin. Tom Tierney's fact-filled introduction and descriptive notes on each costume add fascinating details of social history to this outstanding collection, sure to delight paper doll enthusiasts of all ages.