Celtic Fashions Coloring Book

by Tom Tierney

Known as fierce warriors and skilled artisans and crafters, the Celts had established a culture long before the existence of the Roman Empire. Their territory extended from Romania and Hungary westward to France and Spain, eventually including England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland.
This well-researched coloring book documents more than 4,000 years of Celtic fashions. Forty-five ready-to-color illustrations, accompanied by detailed captions, depict a wide variety of apparel and accessories — from cloaks worn by European Celts ca. 2000 B.C. to the elaborately embroidered costume of a twentieth-century Irish step dancer. Here also are careful renderings of Gallic-Celtic warriors in tunics and trousers (100 B.C.), Druids making a sacrificial offering (A.D. 100), and an Irish-Celtic family of the Roman era (A.D. 150), St. Patrick and a converted noblewoman (A.D. 432), and nineteenth-century Irish fisherfolk, among others.
This fascinating collection is sure to be valued by students of costume design, fashion historians, and coloring book fans of all ages.

Genres: History

48 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2002

About the author

Tom Tierney was a prolific creator of paper doll books. He was trained as an artist and worked as an illustrator for department stores before turning to paper dolls in the 1970s.

"Meticulously drawn and colored, and annotated with historical information, Mr. Tierney’s paper-doll books are not just for children — and some are not for children at all. His aim, he often said, was to contribute to the visual literature of costume history," noted his New York Times obituary.

"Pope John Paul II, shown a copy of Mr. Tierney’s book about him by a visitor to the Vatican, blessed it and asked where he might get one of his own."

Reviews

[Anna C · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a strange book to add: a historically-accurate *coloring book* about Celtic fashions. Bizarre, I know. But lately, I've gotten very into drawing concept art and costume design. I've been buying up lots of different illustrated books about historical fashion, with a particular emphasis on the 14th century and earlier. Awhile ago, I started thinking about this book, which was my absolute favorite coloring book as a kid. I had all the Dover History of Fashion Coloring Books, and must have gotten this one around the time it came out, in 2002. I vividly remember coloring this with my crayons, and even inventing backstories for the Celtic warriors. I tracked this book down again last month, and it's been a lot of fun, working through it again as an adult, with much better art supplies! I did a couple dozen illustrations inspired by the Celtic fashions in this book. The line art is surprisingly good, and the period costume seems to be well-researched.