Fashion
- All Sewn Up: Millinery, Dressmaking, Clothing and Costume
This digital collection from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries includes millinery, dressmaking, clothing and costume books from the first half of the 20th century (1907 – 1940’s).
Costume in detail; women's dress, 1730-1930. by Call Number: Art Library, GT580 .B67 1968Publication Date: 1968
Everyday Fashions, 1909-1920 by Call Number: Art Library, GT 615 .E89 1995ISBN: 0486286282Entertaining pictorial record displays elegant dresses for special occasions, everyday wear, and two-piece suits for women; charming hats trimmed with ribbon and feathers, attractive sailor suits for little boys and more. Invaluable to collectors, designers and fashion historians. Descriptive captions.
- Fashion Collection: Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC
The Costume Institute collection at the Metropolitan contains more than thirty-three thousand objects, representing seven centuries of fashionable dress and accessories for men, women, and children, from the fifteenth century to the present. - University of Washington Libraries - Fashion Plate Collection
A digital collection of over 400 fashion plates, 1806-1914, organized into seven periods: Empire (1806-1813), Georgian (1806-1836), Regency (1811-1820), Romantic (1825-1850), Victorian (1837-1859), Late Victorian (1860-1900), and Edwardian (1901-1915).
Advertising & Popular Culture
- Ad*Access (1911-1955) This link opens in a new window
Print advertising images from U.S. and Canadian publications; organized by product category: Radio, Television, Transportation, Beauty and Hygiene, and World War II.
- Emergence of Advertising in America: 1850-1920
Over 3,300 reproductions of ads dating from 1850 to 1920, illustrating the rise of consumer culture and the birth of a professionalized advertising industry in the United States. - Everyday Life & Women in America, 1800-1920
Showcases unique primary source material for the study of American social, cultural, and popular history in the 19th and early 20th centuries. See especially "Town Topics" a news and gossip newspaper published in New York City from 1897-1923
Trade catalogs
- Montgomery Ward Catalogs
Examples of catalogs dating from 1881 to the 1930s
Sears: [Catalog]. (Print copies)
1897, 1928/29 - 1957 (incomplete), 1961, 1970
Call # 658.872 Se17; Location: Storage
- Trade Catalogues and the American Home
Trade catalogues have been a prominent feature in commerce and manufacturing from the eighteenth century to the present day. Highly illustrated, they are an essential visual record of a variety of products and facilitate research into visual and material culture as well as social norms and attitudes. This collection spans trade catalogues published over a period of 150 years (1830-1980).
Magazines
Use magazines for images of contemporary clothing and hints about the broader cultural context.
Good Housekeeping. 1887-1976 (incomplete)
Print: Main Library, 1887-1976 (incomplete)
Online: 1994-2018
Ladies’ Home Journal. 1884-1976
Print: Main Library,1889-1976
Online: 1884-1907
Harper's BazaarCall Number: Main Library, PeriodicalsPublication Date: 1867 - 2018 (print edition)Also available online, although online editions often exclude advertising.
The DelineatorCall Number: Art Library Periodicals, vol 13-16, 19-33, 35-41, 43-47, 51-54, 56, 58-63, 67-79, 82, 84, 87-89, 92-93, 97Publication Date: 1879-1920A 19th century women's magazine devoted to fashion and dressmakingThe Delineator featured the Butterick sewing patterns and provided an in-depth look at the fashion of the day.The Art Library has an incomplete run from 1879-1920. Merged to become the Pictorial Review from 1899 - 1906
Saturday Evening PostCall Number: Main Library, PeriodicalsPublication Date: 1899-1974Also available online from 1821 to the present, although online editions often exclude advertising.