The book in question isn't really a sewing guide, anyway: it has illustrations and brief descriptions, but no construction techniques or patterns. It could be used for sewing in combination with other materials, but it would be just as useful as a shopping guide, since you can flip through and try to date stuff (as I was doing with black tailcoats).

I believe what I was trying to say was that it appears that, if anything, a minority of tailcoats were black in that era (though Marc's comment suggests that that may not be entirely correct). Certainly there was plenty of color.

Also, I have finally remembered to start using this icon, which features (a representation of) me wearing a skirt.