Links We Love

Research, blogs, and libraries--oh my!  Although we mainly rely on our costume history library for reference material, sometimes it is help to turn to the world wide web to see what other sites have to offer.  There are a surprising number of university library collections of vintage fashion plates which can be very helpful in dating garments and identifying trends in fashion, accessories, trim techniques.  

Below is a list of some favorite research websites on the history of clothing.  Descriptions are pulled directly from the website home page if possible.    


Do you have a favorite?  Include a link in the comments below!

• The Costumer's Manifesto:  www.costumes.org    The site is well laid out and easy to navigate.  The clothing and history sections are broken down into eras and/or decades.  

• Los Angeles County Library Casey Plates Index:  http://www.lapl.org/resources/indexes/casey.html   "The Joseph E. Casey Fashion Plate Collection contains over 6,200 handcolored fashion plates from British and American magazines dating from the 1790s to the 1880s. All of the plates are indexed and digitized for online viewing. 

• The Gjenvick-Gjønvik Archives:  Historical Fashions and Vintage Clothing Styles Archives 1880s - 1930s http://www.gjenvick.com/Fashions/#ixzz1W9llooSX  "The Gjenvick-Gjønvik Archives contains a large number of photographs, articles and period advertisements for fashion and related topics. The student of fashion may gain a greater understanding of the styles provided for both the affluent and the common under-classes."

• The University of Washington Fashion Plate Collection.  http://content.lib.washington.edu/costumehistweb/  A great collection of fashion plates from the collections of Professor Blanche Payne and others.    The archive is searchable by key words and era, and the opening page offers helpful tips to make your search even more worthwhile.  

• University of Vermont collection of fashion plates from Godey's Ladies Book http://www.uvm.edu/~hag/godey/fashion/index.html

• Selections from the Little Bower Collection of Fashion Plates at CSU-Fresno.  http://zimmer.csufresno.edu/~monicaf/  "This exhibit will highlight five eras of fashion plates from the Little Bower Fashion Plate Collection. These time periods are: Directoire/Empire (1790-1820); Romantic (1820-1850); Crinoline (1850-1869); Bustle and Nineties (1870-1900); and Edwardian and World War I (1900-1920)."