About this Research Guide
This guide provides an overview of visual reference titles for costume research. For information about sewing and textiles see the Textiles and Sewing research guide. For examples of clothing by century see the Historic Costume: North America and Western Europe research guide.
Steps of Visual Research
Visual Research is different from traditional research since the goal is finding images, not scholarly essays or books.
Analyzing the play, scene, story, etc. to find basic guidelines for your designs.
Then find books and articles to get an idea what you are looking for.
Analyze
1. Divide your topic into categories using where, when, character, tone, etc. For example:
For example: Costumes for the lovers Hermia and Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream. (William Shakespeare), recast in 1970s San Francisco
Where: San Francisco, USA
When: Late 1960s to early 1970s
Character: Hermia - Female, early 20s, wealthy influential family, rebelling against her father to marry Lysander, a hippie
Tone: Hippies, recreational drugs, rebellion, Rock and Roll music, political protests, increased openness about sexual behavior
2. Get background information -- Learn more about the city, and the country during this period. What were the social and political concerns of the time? How did clothing reflect those concerns?
TIP: Use Grove Art Online or Oxford Reference Online for quick, authoritative background information.
3. Find a few relevant titles in OBIS; use those call numbers to find additional material in the library stacks.
Finding Books
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 (some are linked to OBIS results):
• Clothing and dress (see esp. the 42 related subjects)
• Costume
• Costume design
• Fashion
• Fashion -- History
• Fashion design
Specific items of clothing
• Hats
• Hair -- see Hair styles or Hair dressing
• Stockings -- see Hoisery
Tip: Search for specific clothing items as a subject; if there are no/ few results try again as a keyword
Keep track of frequently occurring call numbers and browse those areas of the library.
For more help finding books, ask a librarian.
Background sources
The Berg Companion to Fashion by Call Number: Main Library, GT507 .B47 2010ISBN: 9781847885920A comprehensive overview covering designers, articles of clothing, key concepts and styles, The Berg Companion to Fashion provides a comprehensive overview of the history, meaning and theory of fashion.
A Cultural History of Dress and Fashion by Call Number: Art Library, GT511 .C85 2017 vol. 1 - 6ISBN: 9781472557490A Cultural History of Dress and Fashion presents an authoritative survey from ancient times to the present in the western world. This set of six volumes covers over 2,500 years of dress and fashion: vol 1: Antiquity (500BCE-800AD), vol 2: The Medieval Age (800-1450), vol 3: The Renaissance (1450-1650), vol 4: The Age of Enlightenment (1650-1800), vol 5: The Age of Empire (1800-1920), vol 6: The Modern Age (1920-2000+). Each volume is divided into 1. Textiles, 2. Production & Distribution, 3. The Body, 4. Belief, 5. Gender & Sexuality, 6. Status, 7. Ethnicity, 8. Visual Representations, and 9. Literary Representations.
Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion by Call Number: Print edition: Main Library Oversize GT507 .E53 2005, vol. 1-3ISBN: 9780684314518Publication Date: 2004-10-01An authoritative introduction to fashion, the industry, and the issues that have defined the field. Some 640 articles describe the colorful facets of couture and textiles, from fabrics of chintz, corduroy, and feathers to such garb as aprons, bikinis, and prison dress. There are color plates and nearly 600 black-and-white illustrations.
The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Clothing Through American History, 1900 to the Present by Call Number: Main Library, GT615 .G74 2008 vol. 1 & 2ISBN: 9780313358555Providing both descriptions of clothing styles and why they were worn, the first four chapters of each volume examine the political and cultural events, arts and entertainment, daily life, and family structures that shaped fashion. The second half describes everyday fashion and styles of the period, decade by decade, for women, men, and children.
- Grove Art Online
The most comprehensive art encyclopedia available in English, with scholarly overviews of the architecture and artistic production of all countries, from pre-history to the early 21st c. Architecture, the "fine arts" and "decorative arts" are covered. Essays are followed by excellent bibliographies.
- Oxford Reference This link opens in a new windowHundreds of dictionaries, general reference, language reference, and subject reference works from Oxford University Press.
