University Libraries: History of Costume and Fashion: Period Images

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Fashion Magazines Online

Harper's Bazaar Archive
A searchable archive of the US (1867 to present) and UK (1930-2015) editions of Harper's Bazaar. This resource chronicles over 150 years of American, British, and international fashion, culture, and society, supporting researchers by offering unique insights into the events, attitudes, and interests of the modern era.
Women's Wear Daily Archive
An archive of Women's Wear Daily, from its launch in 1910 to recent issues,* reproduced in high-resolution images.. Key moments in the history of the fashion industry, as well as major designers, brands, retailers and advertisers are all covered in this publication of record. * 6-month embargo on new issues.
Vogue Italia Archive
A digital archive of Vogue Italia. Recognized as the least commercial and most artistic edition, it has a tradition of innovation and bold treatment of current issues and events. Dates of coverage: 1964-present.

Images in Newspapers and Magazines

Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
Searchable content of American historic newspapers from 1836-1922, ads and illustrations show fashion for sale and in use.

Life Magazine
Complete run of all issues from the 1930's to 1970's. Excellent source for photographic images of what people actually wore.
Good Housekeeping
All issues from 1885 to 1950. Ads and illustrations provide examples of what the 'average" American was wearing.
Punch
Punch magazine. Satirical humor magazine of the period, many cartoons on fads in fashion. University Libraries has volumes published from the years 1841 to 1927.
Ad*Access
"Over 7,000 U.S. and Canadian advertisements covering five product categories - Beauty and Hygiene, Radio, Television, Transportation, and World War II propaganda - dated between 1911 and 1955. "

Costume Resources

Costume Institute: Digital Collections
Texts and images from the collections of the Costume Institute and the Irene Lewisohn Costume Reference Library at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Some collections are not available outside the Met.
SPARC Digital
Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) digital collection. "Featuring images from dozens of collections comprised of original fashion sketches, photographs, illustrations, and historic fashion plates, it includes examples of women’s wear, menswear, children’s wear, millinery, footwear, jewelry, and costume created between the 18th and 20th centuries. Significant collections include the Bergdorf Goodman archives, Frances Neady Collection of Original Fashion Illustrations, Halston Hats sketches, Jerry Miller Shoe designs, Joseph Love Children’s Wear sketches, Helena Rubinstein Foundation photographs, and many more."
Fashion Plate Collection
417 digital images of costume plates from the collection covering 1806-1915.
Digital Collection of Extant Costumes
Site links to digital images of women's clothing from 1600-1919 located in museums worldwide.
Fashion History Costume Trends and Eras, Trends Victorians - Haute Couture
"Fashion-era contains 715 content rich, illustrated pages of Fashion History, Costume History, Clothing, Fashions and Social History."
Fashion: NYPL Digital Collections
Nine unique collections covering fashion for men and women, strong holdings in the 1930's-1940's eras.
SIAM costumes: Cutter's Guides
Pattern guides are 19th and 20th century tailoring and sewing books available as pdf's. Images of 19th and 20th century fashion are also available.
Vintage Sewing Patterns
Home sewing patterns from the 1920's to the 1970's. Excellent source of images.
The Costume Gallery
While parts of the site are subscription only, many images are available for free.
The Costume Page
Links to costume related websites for all "interested in fashion, textile art and costume history." Some links won't work as site has not been updated since 2009.