Fashion and Clothing History

Sorry, there's no section of the library devoted to 1930s fashion!  

Searching for fashion by a specific decade can be tricky because the same time period can be described several different ways and information about a decade may be found in several different sections of the library.  There is no one phrase that will bring back all the clothing of a decade so try a few different searches to see what works.  Here are some suggestions of searches to start with. Get creative and add some of your own!

1930s     Nineteen thirties     30s     30s fashion     Depression fashion

Here are some other tips for researching by a decade:

• Search by designer, not designer by decade.  For example, if you were to search "Coco Chanel 30s" you would find zero books.  However if you were to search for just "Coco Chanel" then look through the many books we have on her, you would find plenty of her designs from the 1930s.  Because a designer's career can span decades, it's difficult to restrict a search to a specific designer AND a specific decade.
• Search by type of clothing.  Looking for a 1930s wedding dress?  Instead of "1930s wedding dress" search for "wedding dress" then look through some of the books you find for images from the 1930s.  
• Search by photographer.  Like designers, a photographers work may span many decades.  
• Search by century.  A book that covers the entire 20th century may have a very good chapter on the 1930s with images you can't find anywhere else.

Please note, some of our magazines are available digitally and some are only available in print in the Periodicals room on the 4th floor for in-library use. Visit our Periodicals LibGuide to see all of our periodicals by decade.