Costume History Research Resources: Images & Websites

Chronologically organized links to art history websites.

Browse through over one million art images. Images are not cleared for classroom use.

*You will need to create an account to view the full collection and download content. See this page for information: https://artstor.libguides.com/students* The ARTstor Digital Library provides images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and sciences, with an accessible suite of software tools for teaching and research. Comprises contributions from outstanding international museums, photographers, libraries, photo archives, and artists and artists' estates. Images form ARTstor are for noncommercial educational or scholarly use only. Images may be used in educational or scholarly presentations, including printed handouts, but may not be otherwise distributed or publicly displayed.

The Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto has a collection of over 13,000 objects that display the development of shoes over the last 4,500 years.

The Collection, held at the University of Washington, "contains photographic prints, pattern drawings, watercolor paintings, and postcards that former UW faculty-member Blanche Payne collected or created on her research trips to the former Yugoslavia and various other countries during 1930 and 1936-1937.

Collection of images in ARTstor from the collection of the Brooklyn Museum costume collection, which was added to The Costume Institute at the Met in 2009.

From the Ryerson University (CA) Department of Fashion: "The FCAD Centre for Fashion & Systemic Change (CFSC) supports research and knowledge exchange that cultivates inclusion, decolonization, and sustainability in the field of Fashion Studies and the fashion system more broadly."

Collection of clothing patterns from 1847-2014, searchable by date, gender, garment type, pattern company, etc...

View the collections of Cooper Hewitt, the design museum of the Smithsonian Institute.

The Consolidated Clothing and Costumes Archives (Costar) includes two collections, one of mostly 19th century clothing and one of non-western clothing. It is part of UNC-CH.

View current and past exhibitions of this important collection.

"The Costume Society of America fosters an understanding of appearance and dress practices of people across the globe through research, education, preservation, and design. Our network of members studies the past, examines the present, and anticipates the future of clothing and fashion."

Links to costume ideas for historical time periods, as well as how-to information.

Exhibit from the collections of the New York Public Library. Focuses on western dress of the 19th and early 20th centuries and includes information on manufacture and sample swatch catalogs.

The website for a research study of the importance of European dress and textiles from 1500-1800.

Images of 20th century fashion from the Costume and Textiles Department of LACMA.

An online exhibition on costume design from the Europeana digital collections

A searchable collection of fashion illustrations from the Lady's Magazine during the Regency period.

A listing of current, on-going costume and fashion exhibitions around the world.

Includes exhibition information and images from the museum's collections.

Digital collection from the University of Washington. Fashion plates are from European and American fashion magazines of the 19th and early 20th centuries

This photo exhibit from the National Women's History Museum traces the changes in home sewing over the last two centuries in the United States.

"A list of free historical costume patterns including medieval, Elizabethan, and Victorian patterns."
A subsection of the larger www.costumingdiary.com.

Includes history of the magazine and links to scans of various issues that have been scanned or digitized.

Browse historic photographs, artwork, and fashion images from the archives of Historic Royal Palaces, which includes Hampton Court, the Tower of London, and Kensington Palace.

On online research tool for studying women's dress in America.

A chronological listing of 200 pieces from the Kyoto Costume Institute's archive.

Access to historic newspapers, photographs and other primary source documents in American and world history held in the collections of the Library of Congress.

Millions of published an unpublished images from LIFE magazine.

Includes exhibition information and images from the museum's collections.

See the full text of hundreds of exhibition catalogs, books, and journal articles from the Met.

View exhibitions and collection images from the collections at FIT.

Includes exhibition information and images from the museum's collections.

Includes exhibition information and images from the museum's collections.

Amazing color photographs from 1909-1912, taken across Russia by commission of Tsar Nicholas II. Shows clothing, architecture and every day life just prior to the end of the Russian Empire. From the collections of the Library of Congress.

Browse thousands of production stills from decades of RSC theatrical performances.

High-resolution images of American life from the late 1800's to the mid-1900's.

Includes exhibition information and images from the museum's collections.

See what is on the runway at each season's shows, and make moodboards for styling or inspiration.

The Victoria and Albert Museum has the largest fashion collection in the world.

Browse vintage women's clothing patterns of the 20th century, by the major pattern companies: Butterick, Vogue, Simplicity, McCalls, and more.

Describes the re-creation of an elaborate ostrich feather headdress, originally worn by Matthaus Schwarz in 1521. Includes videos.