This guide offers suggestions of the most heavily used fashion history databases, sites, books and magazines as well as tips for how to search a fashion history topic. These topics are huge, so we've just provided examples to give you an idea of the many different directions your research can take you.
EMc/MS March 2020
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How do you decide what makes a good clothing history resource?
Thousands of recent and historical articles, books and images. Access it online with your FIT username and password.
contains fashion specific dictionaries and encyclopedias. It's a great place to get definitions and overviews on a topic.
contains fashion specific dictionaries and encyclopedias.
has thousands of images from museum collections around the world. You can browse by Country of Origin, Museum, Medium and Time Period.
Every issue from 1892-Current, including articles, ads, editorial content
digital repository database of approximately 64,000 digital images intended for both research and instructional use by FIT students and faculty. Includes our designer files.
Harper's Bazaar (US): 1867-present
Harper's Bazaar (UK): April 1930 - Dec 1969
Harpers and Queen (UK): Nov 1970 - Feb 2006
Harper's Bazaar (UK): Mar 2006 - Dec 2015
GT511 .B47 2010
GT507 .L49 2011
GT511 .H55 2011
GT730 .C86 2010
Available online
GT507 .E53 2005
GT730 .B25 1995
GT507 .G74 2008
GT510 .B6713 1987
GT511 .C66 1979
GT 511 .H55 2011
GT511 .P46
GT511 .L39 2002 Regular Loan
eBook
-One user at a time
Available either online or in print in the Periodicals Department, Library 4th floor.
See the full list at History of Dress & Fashion Theory Periodicals list.
scholarly
2014 (v1 n1); 2016 (v3 n1). 3x per year
online: October 2013 (v1 n1)-Current (Current FIT username and password required for access)
This journal discusses how clothes determine social interaction and behavior and their statement of one’s values or culture. It also covers textiles and their significance in the production and consumption of clothing.
online: 2001-2018
store catalog
Founded in 1971, the company specializes in museum quality antique costume of the 18th and 19th centuries and in European embroideries, silks, and printed textiles of the 17th - 20th centuries
scholarly
1967-Current. Semi-annual
online: 1965/66-Current (Current FIT username and password required for access)
The journal of the Costume Society of the United Kingdom. Book reviews and scholarly articles about the history of dress and costume design
scholarly
online: October 2010 (v1 n1)-Current
A journal dedicated to the examination of fashion and beauty systems as symbolic spaces of production and reproduction, representation and communication of artifacts, meanings, social practices, and renditions of cloth, clothing and appearance
scholarly
2014 (v1 n1); 2015 (v2 n2/3). 3x per year
online: October 2013 (v1 n1)-Current (Current FIT username and password required for access)
Discussion, analysis, and theoretical development of men’s appearance from multiple disciplines
scholarly
2014 (v1 n1). 3x per year
online: October 2013 (v1 n1)-Current (Current FIT username and password required for access)
A peer-reviewed journal specifically dedicated to the area of fashion scholarship and its interfacings with popular culture.
scholarly
March 1997 (v1 n1)-Current. 5x per year
online: February 1997 (v1 n1)-Current (Current FIT username and password required for access)
Social and psychological aspects of fashion presented in scholarly articles
scholarly
online: January 2011 (v1 n1)-Current (Current FIT username and password required for access)
Film, Fashion & Consumption is a peer-reviewed journal designed to provide an arena for the discussion of research, methods and practice within and between the fields of film, fashion, design, history, art history and heritage.
scholarly
2014 (v1 n1); 2015 (v2 n2). Semi-annual
online: April 2014 (v1 n1)-Current (Current FIT username and password required for access)
A scientific peer-reviewed journal that fosters the worldwide diffusion of Fashion Studies. Fashion Studies is an interdisciplinary field of research that has been producing an extensive repertoire of theories, analyses and enquiries
scholarly
online: April 2016 (v1 n1)-Current (Current FIT username and password required for access)
This title aims to encourage, generate and disseminate critical discourse on costume and the relationship between costume and performance.
scholarly
December 1971 (v2 n1)-Current. Semi-annual
online: December 1968 (v1 n1)-Current (Current FIT username and password required for access)
Scholarly articles on the history and development of the textile industry