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FASHION & COSTUME

This guide is primarily concerned with a variety of fashion/costume sites, including “gateways,” general and chronologically-specific fashion/costume sites, museum exhibits, “image” sites.  Fashion industry resources are a component of some of these sites. All are free-of-charge, although some content from some sites are fee-based or subscription-based. See also JWU Library's webguide FASHION INDUSTRY.


Bissonnette on Costume: A Visual Dictionary of Fashion

•  Developed and maintained by Anne Bissonnette, curator, Kent State University Museum (KSUM)
•  “Enter the world of fashion and witness the changes in silhouettes, accessories, lingerie and hairstyles from the 18th to the 20th centuries”
•  Browsable by “Geographic Search,” “Time Search,” “Subject Search”
•  Comprised of photographs (with commentary) of exhibit items; photographs show items from “front, back, profile;” quality is excellent
•  Most items are from KSMU’s collections, but some items from other sources are also included
•  Not searchable
•  Excellent; while not extensive, this well-designed site does an admirable job for what it covers


Costume History

•  Developed and maintained by Scott R. Robinson, Professor of Theater Arts, Central Washington University
•  Links to sites for 16 Western costume/fashion history eras from the ancient world to the early 20th century
•  Fashion images for each era are accompanied by commentary, a timeline and links or citations to relevant resources
•  Excellent; while not extensive, this attractively-designed site offers a good, basic introduction to costume/fashion history over three millennium


Costume Page

•  This award-winning site developed and maintained by Julie Zetterberg Sardo
•  “For the benefit of those who study and/or make costumes, costumers, students, historical re-enactors, science fiction fans, professionals, amateurs, dancers, theatrical costumers, trick-or-treaters, writers, researchers, and all those interested in fashion, textile art, and costume history”
•  Links to over 2,000 sites, including the following: costume history, reference works, museums, organizations, events, “Other Lists” (site directories, “gateways”)
•  Also links to commercial sites for costume/accessories purchases
•  o annotations
•  No longer maintained on a regular basis; “will update only infrequently”
•  Excellent; very useful for anyone interested in fashion/costume history; commercial links are an added bonus


Costume Site

•  Award-winning site developed and maintained by Lauren Podolak-White/Milieux
•  Extensive links to the following topics: costume history, costume design, “images” sites, exhibits, museums, organizations, events
•  Links to “Costume Source” for costume supplies, mail-order
•  Minimal annotations
•  Excellent; most useful links are to ethnic and theatrical costumes and history/research sites


Costumer’s Manifesto

•  Developed and maintained by Tara McGinnis, Theater Department, University of Alaska, Fairbanks
•  “Costume History” links to sites for Western fashion/costume history from ancient times through the 20th century; many of these sites do an excellent job of analyzing the relationship between fashion/costume changes in their societal context (customs, etiquette, folklore)
•  Also links to sites for design, dance, ethnic dress, “Major Sites,” museums, glossaries, related sites
•  Minimal annotations
•  “Supplies” links to a variety of specialized fashion/costume-related products
•  Outstanding; probably the most comprehensive site of its kind currently available; an amazing array of thousands of sites, which are useful both for the novice and the experienced researcher


Fashion, Costume and Textiles Subject Guide

•  Maintained by Daniel Goldstein, University of California Davis University Library
•  Discusses the print and Internet resources available at the Library
•  Print resources include histories, handbooks, indexes, dictionaries, bibliographies
•  Internet resources include links to the following: image collections, theater/movie costumes, “pathfinders,” textile industry links, “old fashion magazines online”
•  Includes tips on constructing the most productive “subject” searches in online catalogs
•  Excellent; not extensive, but especially useful for the image collections and online catalog searching tips


Fashion-Era

•  “Owned, designed, written and developed by Pauline Weston Thomas and Guy Thomas”
•  “Fashion-era contains 300 content rich, illustrated pages of Fashion History, Costume History, Clothing, Textiles, and Social History”
•  Scope is international (but with a British emphasis); discusses fashion/costume history from 1800 through the end of the 20th century, examining “… the effects of past and present technology, changes in work, leisure, media and homelife that affect lifestyle trends, attitudes, fashion trends and shopping are all covered in the various era[s]”
•  In addition to sites discussed above, also links to sites for body adornment, fashion tutorials, image planning, “royal fashion,” and contemporary fashion trends
•  Also links to information about book purchases
•  Outstanding; provides a balance of high-quality illustrations with perceptive social/historical commentary; highly-recommended


Fashion: Past & Present

•  Developed and maintained by Tracey Osborne
•  “General & Comprehensive” links to directories/”gateways,” timelines, museums, and fashion/costume history sites from ancient times through the 21st century
•  Also links to a wide variety of topic-specific sites (cosmetics, hair, footwear, jewelry, ethnic/folk costume, textiles, fashion designer information)
•  International in scope
•  No annotations
•  Outstanding; fascinating, easy-to-navigate and especially useful for “hard-to-find” topics


Fashionable History: Scholarly Study on the History of Fashion

•  Maintained by Kendra Van Cleave, J. Paul Leonard Library, San Francisco State University
•  “Designed to serve as an online portal for researchers interested in fashion history”
•  Organized into four sections: “Journals,” “Archives, Libraries and Museums,” “Bibliographies & Research Resources,” “Academic Programs”
•  Although this site’s “focus is on resources appropriate for scholarly study and teaching,” it will also be useful to general researchers
•  Excellent; not extensive but a great place for “the basics”; links to journals and museums are especially useful


Gladrags.com: Fashion and Costume

•  Written by Monica Fusich, Henry Madden Library, California State University, Fresno
•  Published in the April 1999 issue of College & Research Library News
•  Essay and directory of sites for fashion and costume
•  “Fashion” links to meta-sites, “images,” industry information, designers, schools, “e-zines,” newsgroups/mail lists/chatrooms
•  “Costume” links to meta-sites, “images,” associations/organizations, newsgroups/mail lists/chatrooms
•  Updated May 2007
•  Outstanding; excellent annotations accompany all links; great place for an overview and to begin research


History of Fashion & Costume

•  Designed and maintained by Mary P. Bawa, “web mistress”
•  Links to sites for a wide variety of costume/fashion history resources
•  “Costume” traces the history of Western costume/fashion from ancient times through the 1990s; commentary on each fashion era includes how fashion was influenced by social trends
•  Includes subject-specific sections on fashion designers (includes hat/shoe designers), fashion houses, the influence of art on fashion, models, illustrators
•  Includes numerous profiles of people who have been prominent in all areas of fashion development and history
•  “A to Z” includes over 180 historical profiles of fashion trends, fabrics and clothing items (from acetate to zippers)
•  Sections of the site on fashion history in Asia and the Americas are “under construction”
•  Also links to relevant books available from Amazon.com
•  Outstanding; this site combines high-quality visual content with fascinating commentary on many areas of costume/fashion not available elsewhere in one place


History of Fashion and Dress

•  Online version of Theater 355 course, University of Alaska, Fairbanks; Tara Maginnis, instructor
•  Part of the “Costumer’s Manifesto” website
•  “This course is publicly accessible by non-students wishing to use the text, discussion boards, or images for personal study”
•  “You may print out any of these pages for non-profit educational use such as school papers, teacher handouts, or wall displays”
•  Links to fashion/costume illustrations which accompany text for each class meeting
•  Although this course discusses fashion/costume history from ancient times through the mid-20th century, the primary emphasis is from the 17th century onward
•  Excellent; does an admirable job of integrating visuals and text into an informative narrative


Picture Collection Online

•  Developed and maintained by the New York Public Library (NYPL)
•  “A collection of 30,000 digitized images from books, magazines and newspapers as well as original photographs, prints and postcards, most created before 1923”
•  Currently includes over 12,000 subjects, including costume, fashion drawings, fur fashions, gloves, hairdressing, hats, hosiery, shoes
•  Browsable and searchable
•  “For information regarding ordering reproductions and requesting permission to use images beyond personal or research purposes, please contact Photographic Services & Permissions”
•  Excellent; the quality of images is outstanding


Twentieth Century Design: Ethnic Influences

•  Created by Dr. Belinda T. Orzada, University of Delaware
•  Provides information about cultural and ethnic influences on 20th century fashion
•  Contains bibliographic references
•  Excellent; particularly useful for non-Western influences


Websites discussed on this page are for informational purposes only. Johnson & Wales University Library is not responsible for the accuracy, content or stability of any websites linked to this page.

Compiled by Rick Keogh, 12/99; updated 12/04; revised 5/08

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