LibGuides: Theatre Guide: Costume and Fashion Resources

History of Fashion

The History of Fashion Collection is a teaching and learning tool that provides access to over 350 garments and accessories from 1830 through the 20th Century. Students in Costume Design and History of Fashion courses will provide additional descriptive information to these items over time.

Recommended Databases

Vogue Archive This link opens in a new window
Complete full-text, online archive of American Vogue, from the first issue in 1892 to the present.
Off Campus Access: Authenticate with your MyDenison login.

Subject Areas: History, Women's Studies

A complete searchable archive of American Vogue, from the first issue in 1892 to the current month.

Every article, cover, photo shoot, illustration and advertisement has been digitized to the highest standard, with rich indexing enabling you to find images by designer and brand names.

Format: Full Text
Date range: 1892-present
Database Producer: Proquest
Harper's Bazaar Archive This link opens in a new window
A searchable archive of the US (1867 to present) and UK (1930-2015) editions of Harper's Bazaar.
Off Campus Access: Authenticate with your MyDenison login.

A searchable archive of the US (1867 to present) and UK (1930-2015) editions of Harper's Bazaar. The issues are reproduced as high-resolution color page images and supported by fully searchable text and article-level indexing. This resource chronicles over 150 years of American, British, and international fashion, culture, and society, supporting researchers by offering unique insights into the events, attitudes, and interests of the modern era.

Format: Full Text Journals, Archival Resources
Dates of Coverage: 1867-present (US), 1930-2015 (UK)
Database Producer: Proquest
Women's Wear Daily Archive This link opens in a new window
A comprehensive archive of Womens Wear Daily, from the first issue in 1910 to recent issues (6-month embargo on new issues). Every page, article, advertisement and cover has been included, with searchable text and indexing.
Off Campus Access: Authenticate with your MyDenison login.

Subject Areas: Retail business, Fashion history, Popular culture, Gender studies, Marketing and advertising

Format: Archival Materials, Full Text Journals
Dates of Coverage: 1910- 6 months embargo on the current issues
Database Producer: Proquest
Esquire Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Archive of the American popular men's magazine Esquire, covering the first issue in October, 1933, through March, 2014.
Off Campus Access: Authenticate with your MyDenison login.

Subject Areas: Sociology/Anthropology

This online archive contains content from Esquire Magazine, spanning the years from 1933-2014.

Content from this award-winning men's magazine covers pop culture, politics, men's fashion, entertainment, and even fiction.

This archive will support research in 20th century events, gender issues, politics and culture, as well as the history of business and advertising.

Format: Full Text
Dates of Coverage: 1933-2014
Update Schedule: Completed Archive
Database Distributor: EBSCO
Art Full Text (1984-present) This link opens in a new window
Index of over 400 international art publications, including periodicals, yearbooks, and museum bulletins.
Off Campus Access: Authenticate with your MyDenison login.

Subject Areas: Art

Includes English-language periodicals, yearbooks, and museum bulletins, as well as periodicals published in French, Italian, German, Japanese, Spanish, Dutch, and Swedish. Cites reproductions of works of art that appear in indexed periodicals.

Indexing coverage begins 1984.
Abstracting coverage begins January 1994.
Full-text coverage begins 1997.

See Art Index Retrospective for earlier content.
Defining Gender This link opens in a new window
Online archive which accesses a vast body of original British source material, giving a gendered perspective to history, literature, sociology, and education studies.
Off Campus Access: Authenticate with your MyDenison login.

Subjects: Women's Studies, History, Sociology/Anthropology

Defining Gender, 1450-1910 provides a gendered perspective to history, using primary materials sourced from British archives.

Documents within this collection include pamphlets, diaries, periodicals, letters, manuscript journals, poetry, novels, ballads, drama, literary manuscripts, and pieces of travel writing.

Many unique items are included as well, such as college records and exam papers, commonplace books, ledgers, account books, educational practice and pedagogy documents, government papers from the Home Office and Metropolitan police, illustrated writings on anatomy, midwifery, art and fashion, receipt books, and conduct and advice literature.

Format: Full Text
Dates of Coverage: 1450-1910
Database Distributor: AM (Adam Matthew Digital)
Artstor This link opens in a new window
Digital library of 500,000+ images, offering collections, descriptive information, and software tools to enhance use.
ArtStor Video Tutorial
Off Campus Access: Authenticate with your MyDenison login.

Subject Areas: Art

Artstor is a digital library that offers coherent collections of art images and descriptive information.

Software tools enable zooming and panning, saving groups of images online for personal or shared uses, and creating and delivering presentations both online and offline.

Users must log into personal Artstor accounts in order to download images.

Format: Images and Full Text
Dates of Coverage: Varies
Update Schedule: Annually
Database Distributor: ITHAKA / JSTOR

Costume and Fashion Journals

Online Resources

The Museum at FIT
The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, includes exhibitions and a permanent collection of more than 50,000 garments and accessories dating from the eighteenth century to the present.
The Fashion and Race Database
An online platform filled with tools that expand the narrative of fashion history and challenge mis-representation within the fashion system. Est. 2017.
The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
The collection represents dress, costume, and accessories from the fifteenth century to the present.
Costume and Fashion Collections at the Victoria and Albert Museum
Resources on stage costumes, haute couture, kimonos, caring for and preserving costumes, and much more.
OSU Historic Costume & Textiles Collection
A scholarly and artistic resource of apparel and textile material culture. Contains 11,500+ objects from the mid-18th century to contemporary 21st century designers.
Elizabethan Costume Page
Website full of links to sites about Elizabethan dress, pattern making, and accessories.
Motley Collection of Theatre & Costume Design
Materials include costume and set designs, sketches, notes, photographs, prop lists, storyboards, and swatches of fabric.
Costume Society of America
We work to stimulate scholarship and encourage study in the rich and diverse field of costume.
The Costumer's Manifesto
Tara Maginnis is the creator of The Costumer's Manifesto, one of the World Wide Web's largest, and most eclectic, costume sites.
The History of Costume
This book is an excellent source for students who are studying the history of fashion and for costume designers.