COSTUME
RESOURCES //

This is a guide to costume-related materials in the Greenfield Library at The University of the Arts. If you have questions about this topic please contact Jim Cowen, Access Services Librarian, at jcowen@uarts.edu.

If you're interested in this topic, you should also consult the more general Theater Research subject guide.

The first place to look when beginning research on a topic is in reference material: specialized dictionaries, encyclopedias or handbooks. These allow you to check names, dates and places, find additional information, look up unknown terms, and check for the proper spelling of words. They are particularly helpful for finding basic background information on a topic, and are often the only place many students may need to look to find answers to their questions. They may include bibliographies (lists of additional materials on a topic, usually considered by the author to be the best materials on that topic) that you can use to find other materials.

Call numbers are for the Greenfield Library unless otherwise indicated.

Callan, Georgina O'Hara. The Encyclopaedia of Fashion. Introduction by Carrie Donovan. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1986.
REF GT507 .O53 1986

Callan, Georgina O'Hara. The Thames and Hudson Dictionary of Fashion and Fashion Designers 2nd ed.
REF GT507 .O53 2008

Corson, Richard. Fashions in Hair: The First 5000 Years.
Covers from ancient Greece and Egypt through the 1970s.
REF GT2290 .C6 1980

Cumming, Valerie et al. The Dictionary of Fashion History.
What are gallislops? Cardows? What is osbro? Find out here.
REF GT507 .C86

Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion / Valerie Steele, editor in chief. Detroit: Thomson/Gale, c2005.
REF GT507 .E53 2005 v. 1-3

Racinet, Auguste. The Historical Encyclopedia of Costumes. Introduction by Dr. Aileen Ribeiro. New York: Facts on File, 1988.
REF GT510 .R3313 1988

Yarwood, Doreen. Encyclopedia of World Costume. New York: Scribner, c1978.
REF GT507 .Y37

The Fashion Book. London: Phaidon, 1998.
REF TT503 .F37 1998
What do the Beatles, Oscar Wilde, Manolo Blahnik, Lily Pulitzer, and Richard Avedon have in common? They're all in this book, which takes a wide-ranging look at "the fashion world and the people who created and inspired it". Entries consist of a large photo plus brief bio/description of that person's impact on fashion. Great for browsing through.

Seiler-Baldinger, Annemarie. Textiles: A Classification of Techniques. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, c1994.
REF TS1449 .S4613 1995

Wilcox, R. Turner. Dictionary of Costume. New York: Scribner, c1969.
REF GT507 .W5 1986

Once you have gotten everything you can get from the reference books, use the University Libraries catalog to find books, videos, CDs, scores, journal titles, etc. To locate all of the materials the library holds on a topic, try searching by subject. Use the following subject headings in the online catalog. Be careful to follow the exact spelling and form. These subject headings are standard and are used in most libraries.

BODY, HUMAN--SOCIAL ASPECTS
CLOTHING AND DRESS
CLOTHING AND DRESS--PSYCHOLOGY
CLOTHING AND DRESS--SOCIAL ASPECTS
CLOTHING AND DRESS--SYMBOLIC ASPECTS
CLOTHING AND DRESS IN ART
CLOTHING AND DRESS IN LITERATURE
COSTUME--PICTORIAL WORKS
COSTUME--PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS

COSTUME--HISTORY--20TH CENTURY
COSTUME--SEX DIFFERENCES
COSTUME DESIGN
COSTUME DESIGN--HISTORY
COSTUME DESIGN--HISTORY--SOURCES
COSTUME DESIGNERS
ETHNIC COSTUME
FASHION--SOCIAL ASPECTS
FASHION--SOCIAL ASPECTS--20TH CENTURY
MEN'S CLOTHING
TEXTILE CRAFTS
TEXTILE FABRICS
TEXTILE FABRICS--SOCIAL ASPECTS
TEXTILE FABRICS IN ART
WOMEN'S CLOTHING

Find Images and Video

Image research is a tremendously important part of costume design research. We highly recommend starting with Artstor. You can search in Artstor, browse by collection type, and learn more through Artstor's YouTube channel.

Get to the UArts Libraries' ArtStor link on our Image Databases page.

Another great resource your library subscribes to is the Performance Design Archive Online, which covers all aspects of theater production design from the 17th century to the present, including scenic and set design, lighting design, sound design, costume design, and makeup.

Periodical Indexes: Finding Articles

Periodical indexes are research tools that allow you to search for articles in magazines, journals and newspapers.

Go to the library's Article Databases and Indexes page for a list of the UArts Libraries' subscription databases. Not sure which one to try? Give us a call (215-717-6280) or contact Jim Cowen, UArts Access Services Librarian.

I've found articles I want to read. Now what?
There are different ways to find an article once you retrieve a citation in the index:

  • See if there is a link in the index you're using to a full-text article online and download it or e-mail it to yourself.

  • Click the FindIt@UArts icon to see if our library holds the journal title. FindIt@UArts will also tell you if the full-text article is available in a different database.

  • Use the interlibrary loan search tool, WorldCat, to request materials not owned by the UArts Libraries or to see what other libraries have the title you need.

Websites

Costume Institute: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
A venerable collection of 30,000+ items and covering 7 centuries. It's the Met, after all. See also the Costume Institute's timeline.
FIT Costume and Textile Collections Online
The Fashion Institute of Technology's museum has assembled quite a list of free online resources for costume researchers.
New York Public Library Digital Collections: Ornament and Pattern: Pre-Victorian to Art Deco
Too good not to include! A small division of New York Public Library's Digital Collections, which are nearing close to one million images.
Victoria & Albert Museum: Collections search
London's Victoria and Albert Museum, better known as the V&A, "is the world’s leading museum of art and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.3 million objects that span over 5,000 years of human creativity. The Museum holds many of the UK's national collections and houses some of the greatest resources for the study of architecture, furniture, fashion, textiles, photography, sculpture, painting, jewellery, glass, ceramics, book arts, Asian art and design, theatre and performance." (from 'About Us') Take a look!

JavaScript disabled or chat unavailable.
JavaScript disabled or chat unavailable.