Theatre: Costume

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In the late 18th-19th centuries, it was the fashion plate that showed women what fashionable society was wearing at different times of the day and for specific occasions, and how to emulate it. A hundred years of hand-colored engraved plates can now be explored here. Primarily showing women’s dress, they were published in English and French magazines between 1770 and 1869. Browse the fashion plates by date, the magazine in which they were published, or by dress terms.

Explore digital collections, including Performing Arts from the Library of Congress. Includes written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience.

Digital collections and databases to support research in the visual arts. Start your research in the Getty Search Gateway portal where you can search for free images for downloading without restriction.

List of costume & textile collections online.

Hosted by the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), this is an open-access source for fashion history knowledge, featuring objects and artworks from over a hundred museums and libraries worldwide. The Timeline website offers well-researched, accessibly written entries on specific artworks, garments and films for those interested in fashion and dress history.
Browse time periods from the Ancient World to the 21st century.

University of Wisconsin Digital Collection

University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections. Digital collection of over 400 fashion plates, 1806-1914, organized into seven periods (Empire to Edwardian).

Univ. of Illinois at U-C. Provides documentation on the history of theatre. Collection of original materials on the theatre comprising 5000+ items from 150+ productions in England and the U.S. These materials include costume and set designs, sketches, notes, photographs, prop lists, storyboards, and swatches of fabric.

Fashion Drawings & Sketches in the Collections of FIT and the New York Public Library. Collection of drawings and sketches produced by the New York firm, André Fashion Studios, in the 1930s and early 1940s.

List of Costume Society of America members' clothing and textile collections in the U.S. and Canada.

Annotated list of museum collections for costume.

Explore fashion - historical clothing and accessories, contemporary designs, catwalk photographs, drawings, sketches, plates, catalogues and videos - from 30+ European public and private institutions.

Costume in fashion plates, paintings, sewing patterns from the 1300s-1930s, particularly
1800s costume in fashion plates, paintings; sewing patterns
1900s costume in fashion plates, paintings; sewing patterns
1930s costume in fashion plates, paintings; sewing patterns

Read the landing page for the book description and scope.

Blog created and maintained by hobbyist (not specialist) for historical costume projects and research resources, specializing in the eighteenth century.

Hosted by Victoriana Magazine. Victorian clothing is featured in photographs, prints, and articles. Refer to the prints and images but be careful about authenticity. Be wary of the articles and other text.

UK-centered site that contains content rich, illustrated pages of Fashion History, Costume History, Clothing, Fashions and Social History. Covers the Regency Period (late 18th-early 19th c) - 1990s. Hobbyist (not specialist) website which is cluttered with advertisements.

50+ digitized complete Christmas catalogs from companies such as Sears, JC Penney, Ward, Lord & Taylor, FAO Schwarz, Spiegel. Years represented vary widely, but the earliest is from 1937 and the latest from 1996.

Duke University Libraries. Images and database information for over 7,000 advertisements printed in U.S.and Canadian newspapers and magazines 1911-1955. Concentrates on five main subject areas: Radio; Television; Transportation; Beauty and Hygiene; and World War II.

Collection of 100,000+ vintage ads from a variety of sources, including comic books, CD-Roms, websites, book, magazine & comic book scans, submissions from the public, and more.

Browse full-text issues of this magazine, 1885-1950.