Gingrich Library: Fashion: Online Resources

Fashion and Museum Collections

The Costume Institute at the MET
The Costume Institute houses a collection of more than thirty-five thousand costumes and accessories, representing five continents and seven centuries of fashionable dress, regional costumes, and accessories for men, women, and children, from the fifteenth century to the present.
The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT)
The mission of the Museum is to collect, conserve, document, exhibit, and interpret fashion. The Museum’s permanent collection encompasses some 50,000 garments and accessories from the 18th century to the present.
National Museum of American History, Clothing and Accessories
The Museum cares for one of the nation's foremost collections of men's, women's, and children's garments and accessories—from wedding gowns and military uniforms to Halloween costumes and bathing suits. The more than 30,000 artifacts here represent the changing appearance of Americans from the 1700s to the present day.
Victoria and Albert Museum
The joint collections of Textiles and Dress contain almost 53,090 items and the Fashion collection is currently the largest and most comprehensive collection of dress in the world. Contains links to past exhibits, videos, and articles on major subjects.

Fashion Books from the Met to Read Online or Download (FREE!)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art offers 425 books and exhibition catalogs you can download for free They also have fashion books available for download or to read online as well. See the links below for titles and download information.

Digital Fashion and Costume Collections

The Drexel Digital Museum Project: Historic Costume Collection
Drexel University's Historic Costume Collection contains more than 7000 items and includes fashion plates, photographs, and 19th- and late-20th-century haute couture by French and American designers.
FIT's Fashion History Timeline
The Fashion History Timeline is an open-access source for fashion history knowledge, featuring objects and artworks from over a hundred museums and libraries that span the globe. The Timeline website offers well-researched, accessibly written entries on specific artworks, garments and films for those interested in fashion and dress history.
FIT's Online Collection
FIT's online collection contains an extensive searchable and browseable gallery. The collection's strength is primarily in modern and contemporary women's fashion.
Kyoto Costume Institute Digital Archive
KCI's Digital Archive includes a browseable interface to view costumes by time period from the early 18th century to the mid-20th century.
Texas Fashion Collection Digital Library
The UNT Texas Fashion Collection is dedicated to the preservation and documentation of historically significant fashion, and serves as an educational and inspirational resource for students, researchers, and the general public.
Valentino Garavani Virtual Museum
Valentino Garavani, legendary fashion designer, has defined a unique world of couture for almost half a century. Over 5000 documents have been installed in a spectacular 3D Palazzo. After downloading the desktop application each visitor can create their unique route through the galleries, to discover and enjoy every aspect of Valentino's extraordinary world

Wayne State University Digital Dress Library
Includes the Digital Dress: 200 Years of Urban Style collection. Records are searchable in the database and includes examples of occupational, formal, recreational, mourning, masquerade, and everyday wear for men, women, and children. Pieces by European and American designers, local dressmakers and retailers, and home made garments are included.

Fashion News

FirstVIEW
This website offers daily reports on fashion updates, an in-depth blog, and a description of the latest “street style.”
New York Times: Fashion and Style
New York Times is a well-known newspaper that provides accurate and recent articles and publications regarding all aspects of fashion.