Heian Period and beyond

I was doing some research yesterday for the illustrator Heian piece, and I refound my favorite site for japanese historical costume. The Costume Museum - The Rebirth of The Tale of Genji. They've got dolls and line illustrations of the Jomon-shiki culture's Nara era and portions of the Heian, Kamakura, Edo and Meiji periods, as well as some setting shots with miniature buildings and the like. It's VERY hard to get realistic picture or art of antique costume anywhere. And not just nobles! Commoners, soldiers and the like. They don't give in urge to play with only the most elaborate clothing. I'd love to own a few of those.

My usual reference, the first book I grab is Albert Racinet's Historical Encyclopedia of Costumes. I wish I had more of his collections. Any time you work from another artist's work - no matter the effort at realism - there's some loss in detail with each interpretation, like playing the telephone game. But as illustrations go, Racinet's is among the best if you have no existing costume examples to draw from.