Theatre Research Guide: Costumes

Here are some books in our collection that might help kickstart your research: 

• Fashion fads through American history : fitting clothes into context (ebook) 

• The fashion forecasters a hidden history of color and trend prediction (ebook)

• A history of the theatre costume business : creators of character (ebook)

• World Clothing and Fashion : an encyclopedia of history, culture, and social influence (ebook)

ASK YOURSELF: 

• Is the author an authority or expert?
• Is evidence used to support facts?
• Do you think the information is correct?
• What is the author's agenda?
• Is the website selling products? 

Did You Know?

• To search education Web sites, please type:  site:.edu [skipping a space and then entering your search term(s)]

• For a search of organization Web sites, please type:  site:.org [skipping a space and then entering your search term(s)]

Examples:

https://fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/ 

metmuseum.org

You can find books on costume and fashion under the following call numbers:

• GT 500 - GT 2346 – Fashion; social aspects of clothing

• PN 2067 - PN 2068 &  PN 2085 - PN 2091 – Costumes for performance, stage design & lighting

• TT 490 - TT 820 – Dressmaking; tailoring; technical considerations, needlework

Useful subject headings:

• Clothing and dress 

• Costume

• Costume design

• Fashion

• Fashion -- History

• Fashion design

Try to consider alternative words for your search

• HAIR could as be Hair Styles or Hair Dressing or Hairdo 

• STOCKINGS could also be Hosiery or Lingerie or Leggings

JSTOR is a database of scholarly texts AND images

Russian Theatrical Designs from the Harvard Theatre Collection

Harvard holds a collection of Russian stage and costume studies which comprises approximately 650 theatrical works. Most of these are associated with productions of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes.

Great Sources for Images:

• Costume & Textiles - Henry Art Gallery

  In the 1930s, faculty in the Home Economics department and School of Drama began collecting costumes and textiles, and in 1958, the Costume and Textile Study Center, the first study center of its kind, was established. Elizabeth Bayley Willis, with help from Virginia and Prentice Bloedel, provided the first major donation – a gift of more than 1,800 textiles and costumes from India— to the Center.
  In 1982, the Costume and Textile Study Center and the School of Drama’s historic costume collection were formally transferred to the Henry. Now numbering more than over 18,000 objects – ranging in date from 1000 BCE to the present from countries around the world – these works are an important regional resource for the study of fashion, clothing, and design.

• Costume at the Victoria and Albert Museum London

  Among the Theatre and Performance collections there are over 3,500 stage costumes and accessories - ranging from complete outfits to individual headdresses. All are a tribute to the creativity and skills of designers and costume makers from the mid 18th century to today, in every kind of live performance - drama, opera, dance, musicals, pantomime, rock and pop, music hall, cabaret, circus.

• Costume Collection at the Museum of the Fashion Institute of America

  The Museum’s permanent collection now encompasses some 50,000 garments and accessories from the 18th century to the present.

• Costume Designers Guild

  The Costume Designers Guild (CDG) is Local 892 of the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees (I.A.T.S.E.). The Guild represents Costume Designers, Assistant Costume Designers and Costume Illustrators working at the highest levels of skill and expertise in motion pictures, television and commercials. The CDG promotes and protects the economic status of its members while improving working conditions and raising standards for our craft.

• Costume Institute and the Irene Lewisohn Costume Reference Library at The Metropolitan Museum of Art

  Texts and images from the collections of the Costume Institute and the Irene Lewisohn Costume Reference Library at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Please note that access to some material in this collection is restricted to computers within The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

• The Costume Institute | Curatorial Departments | Works of Art | The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

  The Costume Institute's collection of more than thirty-three thousand costumes and accessories represents five continents and seven centuries of fashionable dress and accessories for men, women, and children, from the fifteenth century to the present.

• The Costumer's Manifesto

  A wiki that offers extensive historical, geographical breakdown of costume history as well as accessories, uniforms, costume shops, dyeing, etc.

• Harper's Bazaar

  This open access database contains scans of all issues published between November 1867 – December 1900, with very few gaps.

• Historic Costume & Textiles Collection

  The Historic Costume & Textiles Collection is a scholarly and artistic resource of apparel and textile material culture. The 11,500+ holdings encompass a range of three dimensional objects such as textiles and articles of clothing and accessories for men, women, and children, including national dress costume, from the mid-18th century to contemporary 21st century designers. The Collection also houses a number of period fashion magazines, fashion plates, swatch books and commercial patterns. Particular strengths of the Collection are objects pertaining to central Ohio and the U.S. fashion industry