History of Costume and Fashion

Complete run of all issues from the 1930's to 1970's. Excellent source for photographic images of what people actually wore.

All issues from 1885 to 1950. Ads and illustrations provide examples of what the 'average" American was wearing.

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.

"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. "

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.

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."

417 digital images of costume plates from the collection covering 1806-1915.

Site links to digital images of women's clothing from 1600-1919 located in museums worldwide.

"Fashion-era contains 715 content rich, illustrated pages of Fashion History, Costume History, Clothing, Fashions and Social History."

Nine unique collections covering fashion for men and women, strong holdings in the 1930's-1940's eras.

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.

Home sewing patterns from the 1920's to the 1970's. Excellent source of images.

While parts of the site are subscription only, many images are available for free.

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.