Fashion Study Resources
Are you working on a school project? Do you have research to do for a class you're teaching? Are you looking for historical inspiration for a design idea? We have a variety of research opportunities to help you.
Featured Resources
Fashion and Race Database
A subscription based platform dedicated to decentralizing the study of fashion.
Fashion History & Industry
A-M
All About Shoes
Stories and teacher resources from the Bata Shoe Museum.
Berg Fashion Library
Access for FIT students via Gladys Marcus Library and others via NYPL.
The British Pathe Fashion Film Archive (on YouTube)
Fashion designers, haute couture shows, fashion industry footage and news reels.
Chanel Costume Jewelry A Dating Guide.
Clothes Tell Stories The Costume Committee of ICOM organized this resource for anyone with an interest in working with historic costume.
Defunct Fashion A Tumblr feed of museum objects.
Fashion Historia (Blog)
Fashion Projects (Blog)
Fashion Studies Journal Online journal for fashion scholarship and criticism.
Fashion Timeline (Vintage Fashion Guild)
Fashioning the Self in Slavery and Freedom
A project of Johnathan M. Square, PhD
French Fashion Designers (Bios)
Hat Resource (Vintage Fashion Guild)
Irenebrination (Fashion Blog)
Material Mode The blog of Special Collections of the Gladys Marcus Library, FIT.
Max Meyer and A. Beller & Co. A virtual exhibition on the work of Max Meyer (1876–1953), a fashion industry leader and one of FIT’s founders and its first president. Meyer donated nearly 9,000 fashion sketches of the Beller company to the library in the 1950s.
Mods - A Concise History (PDF)
N - Z
On Pins and Needles A blog from FIT’s master’s students in the History, Theory and Museum Practices Program at The Fashion Institute of Technology.
Threadbared (A retired blog about fashion and diversity)
The Tirocchi Dressmakers Shop, 1915-1947
Willi Smith Archive Memories and contributions by Smith's friends and collaborators.
Fashion Illustration & Photography
André Studios 1930-1941 Fashion Drawings & Sketches in the Collections of FIT and the New York Public Library.
Beauty, Virtue & Vice Images of Women in 19th century America.
Creators Studios Fashion Illustrations (NYPL)
Fashion Plate Collection (University of Washington)
417 digital images from 1806-1915.
Lee Miller Archives A small privately run archive dedicated to conserving, publishing, and cataloguing the lifestyle and holding of work by Lee Miller and the photography of her husband Roland Penrose.
Menswear
Henry Poole
The History of a Saville Row Tailor
Ivy Style
Blog
Research Avenues
Cornell's Home Economics Archive
An electronic collection of books and journals in Home Economics from 1800-1999.
Europeana
Explore fashion – historical clothing and accessories, contemporary designs, catwalk photographs, drawings, sketches, plates, catalogues and videos – from more than 30 European public and private institutions.
The Diary of Samuel Pepys
In 1660 Samuel Pepys, an increasingly-important 26 year-old civil servant in London, began writing a diary.
Fashion Studies Alliance Resources
Resources on fashion history, fashion theory, teaching tools, archives and databases, and organizations and opportunities.
Associate 2+2 Program
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Associate 2+2 Program
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Terms & Definitions
Business of Fashion's Fashion A-Z
A comprehensive dictionary with definitions and meanings of key fashion vocabulary.
Textile Dictionary
Fabric Link
All About Shoes Stories and teacher resources from the Bata Shoe Museum.
Berg Fashion Library Access for FIT students via Gladys Marcus Library and others via NYPL.
The British Pathe Fashion Film Archive (on YouTube)
Fashion designers, haute couture shows, fashion industry footage and news reels.
Chanel Costume Jewelry A Dating Guide.
Clothes Tell Stories The Costume Committee of ICOM organized this resource for anyone with an interest in working with historic costume.
Defunct Fashion
A Tumblr feed of museum objects.
Fashion Historia (Blog)
Fashion Projects (Blog)
Fashion Studies Journal Online journal for fashion scholarship and criticism.
Fashion Timeline (Vintage Fashion Guild)
Fashioning the Self in Slavery and Freedom
A project of Johnathan M. Square, PhD
French Fashion Designers (Bios)
Hat Resource (Vintage Fashion Guild)
Irenebrination (Fashion Blog)
Material Mode The blog of Special Collections of the Gladys Marcus Library, FIT.
Max Meyer and A. Beller & Co. A virtual exhibition on the work of Max Meyer (1876–1953), a fashion industry leader and one of FIT’s founders and its first president. Meyer donated nearly 9,000 fashion sketches of the Beller company to the library in the 1950s.
Mods - A Concise History (PDF)
On Pins and Needles A blog from FIT’s master’s students in the History, Theory and Museum Practices Program at The Fashion Institute of Technology.
Threadbared (A retired blog about fashion and diversity)
The Tirocchi Dressmakers Shop, 1915-1947
Willi Smith Archive Memories and contributions by Smith's friends and collaborators.
André Studios 1930-1941 Fashion Drawings & Sketches in the Collections of FIT and the New York Public Library.
Beauty, Virtue & Vice Images of Women in 19th century America.
Creators Studios Fashion Illustrations (NYPL)
Fashion Plate Collection (University of Washington)
417 digital images from 1806-1915.
Lee Miller Archives A small privately run archive dedicated to conserving, publishing, and cataloguing the lifestyle and holding of work by Lee Miller and the photography of her husband Roland Penrose.
Henry Poole The History of a Saville Row Tailor.
Ivy Style (Blog)
ArtStor Image resource for scholarly and educational use.
Cornell's Home Economics Archive An electronic collection of books and journals in Home Economics from 1800-1999.
Europeana Explore fashion – historical clothing and accessories, contemporary designs, catwalk photographs, drawings, sketches, plates, catalogues and videos – from more than 30 European public and private institutions.
The Diary of Samuel Pepys In 1660 Samuel Pepys, an increasingly-important 26 year-old civil servant in London, began writing a diary.
Fabric Resource (Vintage Fashion Guild)
Fashion Studies Alliance Resources Resources on fashion history, fashion theory, teaching tools, archives and databases, and organizations and opportunities.
Google Arts & Culture Google Arts & Culture is an online platform through which the public can view high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from partner cultural organizations throughout the world.
Harper's Bazaar (1867 - 1900)
JStor Search journals, primary sources, and books.
Label Resource (Vintage Fashion Guild)
Sewing Patterns and Guides for Historical Clothing and Costumes A link list of patterns from Ancient Roman and Egyptian clothing styles to Steampunk.
Business of Fashion’s Fashion A-Z A comprehensive dictionary with definitions and meanings of key fashion vocabulary.
Textile Dictionary (Fabric Link)