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.
While this is not a scholarly or museum website and is UK-focused, it is a useful way to get a sense of how death was almost fetishized in the Victorian period.
Jackson's Mourning Store/Warehouse on Broadway in New York City was comparable to Jay's in London. Below are articles from the New York Times about Jackson's.
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.
(U.S. Dept of Labor). Fascinating calculator to use with the Sears Catalogs books, under "Fashion." Look at clothing prices in Sears catalogs books and use the calculator to see approximately how much the clothing would cost now. Also useful for salaries. Calculator begins for goods sold 1913-present.
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.
Digital version of the big wishbook Sears catalogue. Find black & white and color photos and illustrations of clothing, shoes, nightwear, lingerie, hosiery, furs, jewelry, toys, home furnishings, etc. This book is a snapshot of middle-class America's tastes in 1940.
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. (See also Duke's curated Advertising Collections, digitized advertisements from several collections).
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.
Aggregates digital content (@700,000 fashion objects ranging from historical dresses to accessories, photographs, posters, drawings, sketches, videos, and fashion catalogs) from 30+ European public and private archives and museums.
UK-centered site (individual passion project--not academic or affiliated with a museum) 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.
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.
