Remember
When you find one good book on the shelf, be sure to look on either side of it for similar books.
Costuming Reference Books in Murphy Library
Costume Patterns and Designs: A Survey of Costume Patterns and Designs of All Periods and Nations from Antiquity to Modern Times by
Call Number: GT513 .T512Publication Date: 1957The Fashion Dictionary: Fabric, Sewing, and Dress as Expressed in the Language of Fashion by
Call Number: REF TT503 .P49Publication Date: 1957
The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Costume and Fashion by Call Number: REF GT720 .C37 1994Publication Date: 1994A Pictorial History of Costume: A Survey of Costume of All Periods and Peoples from Antiquity to Modern Times including national costume in Europe and non-European countries by
Call Number: GT513 .B763Publication Date: 1955
Useful LC Subject Headings
Beauty culture -- United States -- History
Clothing and dress -- Dictionaries
Clothing and dress -- China -- History
Clothing and dress -- Great Britain -- History
Clothing and dress -- Psychological aspects
Clothing and dress -- Social aspects
Clothing and dress -- Symbolic aspects
Clothing and dress -- United States
Footwear (Dictionaries, History, etc.)
Hairdressing (History, Locations, etc.)
Costuming Internet Resources
- Costumer's ManifestoA wiki for sharing ideas and collaborating with other costumers
- Daphne Dare Digital ExhibitThis collection includes costume and scene designs from more than fifty productions by British designer Daphne Dare (1929-2000). Dare designed for major theatres on both sides of the Atlantic as well as for television and film.
- Dressing the CharacterThe Role of the Costume Designer
- Elizabethan Costuming PageThis site, divided into 16 sections, focuses on a broad variety of topics related to clothing in the time of Queen Elizabeth I. Of particular interest are those entitled, "Portraits and Pictures" and "Regional and National Fashions."
- Google Images: Costume HistoryThis link performs the search described in the titles and provides a vast array of costume history-related images!
- Helen Louise Allen Textile CollectionThe mission of the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection is to further "the understanding of human beings within their material and social environments through the study of textiles of artistic, cultural, and historic significance." It is primarily a teaching collection serving the University of Wisconsin-Madison's School of Human Ecology's Design Studies Department. It includes 13,000 textiles and related objects spanning spanning various places, techniques, and time periods.
- Motley Collection of Theatre and Costume DesignThe digitized version of the Motley Collection of Theatre and Costume Design is based on originals housed in the Rare Book & Manuscript Library at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Motley Collection consists of over 5000 costume and set designs, sketches, notes, photographs, prop lists, storyboards, and swatches of fabric. The collection documents 150 productions of Shakespeare and modern classics, dating from 1932 to 1976, staged in England and the United States, from the West
- Stage Costume Collection (Victoria and Albert Museum)An online collection from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The collection highlights stage costume designers, costume makers, and the costumes themselves.
- Costume HistoryWestern costume history by era and decade
- Tonic to the Imagination:Costume Design for Stage & Screen by B.J. Simmons & Co.,1889-1959The B.J. Simmons & Co. costume shop in London produced costumes for theater and film, along with renting out costumes to such venues for over 100 years. The Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin has a web exhibition of 228 costume designs from over 60 productions from the span of 1889-1959.