Clothing, Fashion & Appearance

Subject Headings.

To locate books or other materials held in the Boston University Libraries on a particular topic, you will need to do a subject or keyword search in the online Catalog. Relevant subjects for books may include but are not limited to:

beauty culture

beauty, personal

body image

body piercing

clothing and dress

clothing and dress in art

costume design

costume france history 18th century

dress accessories

ethnic costume

fashion design

fashion designers

fashion history

fashion photography

feminine beauty (aesthetics)

footwear

hair social aspects

men's clothing

military uniforms

muslim women clothing

purdah

tattooing

theatrical makeup

underwear

uniforms

veils

women's clothing

Reference Works.

Broadway Design Roster: Designers and Their Credits. 2003: Brief biographies of 2,300+ scenery, costume, and lighting designers who worked on Broadway from 1899 through 2001. Mugar Ref. X PN 2096 A1 O93 2003
Chinese Clothing: An Illustrated Guide. 1994: Profusely illustrated guide to Chinese clothing from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) to the 20th century. Mugar Ref. X GT1555 G36 1994

Clothing and Textile Collections in the United States: A CSA Guide. 2006: "This Costume Society of America guide to clothing and textile collections in the United States lists 2,604 collections whose holdings include general clothing, costumes, uniforms, accessories, banners, flags, quilts. Entries include extended descriptions of holdings for more than 800 collections and black and white photographs for 245 collections." Mugar Ref. X GT605 C56 2006
Contemporary Fashion. (ChRiv-px). 2nd ed. 2002: "A reference book covering individual designers and fashion houses that have been active throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Informative essays mirror the many facets of the fashion world." Available online through Gale Virtual Reference Library. Previous print edition in Mugar Ref. X TT505 A1 C66 1995
Costume Language: A Dictionary of Dress Terms. 1994: From "aal" ( a red dye) to "zucchetto," ( a skull-cap) this work has brief definitions of costume and dress terms, as well as geographical locations and couturiers. Mugar Ref. X GT 507 D38 1994

Encyclopedia of American Indian Costume. 1994: Arranged by region, with general information about costume of the region and descriptions of dress of particular tribes. Appendix materials include clothing arts and a glossary. Mugar Ref. X E98 C8 P37 1994
Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion. 3 vols. 2005: "Some 640 articles describe the colorful facets of couture and textiles, from fabrics of chintz, corduroy, and feathers to such garb as aprons, bikinis, and prison dress. There are color plates and nearly 600 black-and-white illustrations. Back matter includes a comprehensive index, a timeline, and a topical outline." Mugar Ref. X GT507 E53 2005
Encyclopedia of Fashion Details. 1987: From "applique" to "zips," line drawings and photographs illustrate design details, textures and patterns in fashion design. Mugar Ref. X TT509 I69 1987
Encyclopedia of Hair: A Cultural History. 2006: Contains 200 alphabetically arranged entries on the care and appearance of hair (body and head) and on sociological, psychological, political, legal, religious and economic aspects of facial and body hair. Mugar Ref. X TT957 S46 2005
Fashion, Costume, and Culture: Clothing, Headwear, Body Decorations, and Footwear Through the Ages. (ChRiv-px) 5 vols. 2004: "Provides a broad overview of costume traditions of diverse cultures from prehistoric times to the present day. Examines more than 430 items of human decoration and adornment, ranging from togas to turbans, necklaces to tennis shoes. Explores how and why items were created, the people who made them, and their uses. This set shows how clothing, headwear, body decorations, and footwear reflect the different cultural, religious, and societal beliefs." Available online through the Gale Virtual Reference Library.
For Appearance' Sake: The Historical Encyclopedia of Good Looks, Beauty, and Grooming. 2001: Contains 200+ entries on beauty, body ornamentation, and grooming, from ancient times to the present. Mugar Ref. X GT499 S49 2001
The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Clothing Through World History. 3 vols. 2008: Spanning prehistoric times to the present, this work surveys clothing in the context of social history, religious history, art history, fashion, and costume. Includes a detailed glossary and color plates. Mugar Ref. X GT507 G74 2008.

Grove Art Online. (BU-px): Online version of the 34 volume print Dictionary of Art (1996). Comprising more than 45,000 signed articles on the visual arts, it is kept current with quarterly updates and additions. This site also incorporates links to over 130,000 images, searchable by artist, title, dates, location or by keyword. Relevant topics include body ornaments, dress, and fashion plate and costume book.
The Guide to Historic Costume. 1995: Historical dictionary of fashionable and everyday dress in Great Britain. Entries cite examples of the named garment/accessory held by British museums. Mugar Ref. X GT730 B33 1995.
Historical Dictionary of the Fashion Industry. 2008.: From "Abboud, Joseph" to "Zoran," the entries in this volume cover apparel, fabrics, couture houses, designers, models, trade unions and other subjects. Includes a chronology; introductory essay; appendixes listing trade shows, periodicals, fashion and textile museums, and more; and a bibliography. Mugar Ref. X TT494 S84 2008.

The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Costume and Fashion from 1066 to the Present. 2006.: "The aim of this book is to highlight those points of fashion which express change in style over a period of nearly a thousand years. The illustrations, based on contemporary sources, provide ...visual insight into the social and psychological reasons for fashion." Includes a brief glossary. Mugar Ref. X GT513 C3 2006.
St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. (ChRiv-px). 5 vols. 2000: Use the category index in vol. 5 to locate articles listed under broad topics such as "fashion/clothing." Available online through Gale Virtual Reference Library. Mugar Ref. X E169.1 S764 2000

Indexes, Abstracts and Full Text Sources.

Academic OneFile. (BU-px): Multidisciplinary database of more than 8,000 academic journals, many of them full-text.
America: History and Life. 1964 - . (BU-px): Indexes and abstracts periodical articles and dissertations in the field of North American history, prehistory, and culture.
Anthropological Index. 1957 - . (BU-px): "The Anthropological Index Online is based on the journal holdings of The Anthropology Library at the British Museum (formerly Museum of Mankind) which receives periodicals in all branches of anthropology, from academic institutions and publishers around the world."
Anthropological Literature. Late 19th century to the present. (ChRiv-px): Comprehensive international index to articles and essays on anthropology and archaeology, including art history, demography, economics, psychology, and religious studies. Updated quarterly, Anthropological Literature indexes articles two or more pages long in works published in English and other European languages from the late 19th century to the present.

Anthrosource. Late 19th century to the present. (ChRiv-px): Developed by the American Anthropological Association (AAA), Anthrosource brings 100 years of anthropological material online, including: a complete electronic archive of all AAA journals through 2003; seamless access to archival content housed at JSTOR for 6 key AAA publications including American Anthropologist; and current issues for 15 of the AAA's most critical peer-reviewed publications.

Art Index. 1929 - . (ChRiv-px): Index to periodicals, yearbooks and museum publications, both domestic and foreign. Subjects covered include archaeology, architecture, art history, crafts, motion pictures, graphic arts, interior design, landscape architecture and others. Coverage is from 1929 to date.
Arts and Humanities Citation Index. 1975 - . (BU-px): Provides author, subject and citation access to the literature in folklore, history, and religion. Mugar Ref. X Z5937 A795; (1975-1998). Searchable on the BU Web as Web of Science (1978- ).
ATLA Religion Database. 1949 - . (BU-px): Indexes religion periodicals, essays in books, and dissertations in religion and related fields, including the sociology of religion. Relevant subjects include "clothing and dress," "textiles," and "body, human."
Bibliography of Asian Studies. 1971 -. (ChRiv-px): The Bibliography of Asian Studies (BAS) contains more than 545,000 records on all subjects (especially humanities and social sciences) pertaining to East, Southeast, and South Asia published worldwide.
Early English Books Online. (ChRiv-px): "From the first book published in English through the age of Spenser and Shakespeare, this incomparable collection now contains about 100,000 of over 125,000 titles listed in Pollard & Redgrave's Short-Title Catalogue (1475-1640) and Wing's Short-Title Catalogue (1641-1700) and their revised editions, as well as the Thomason Tracts (1640-1661) collection and the Early English Books Tract Supplement." Subjects include "beauty, personal" and "clothing and dress."

Eighteenth Century Collections Online. (BU-px): Comprehensive digital edition of The Eighteenth Century, the world's largest library of the printed book on microfilm. Includes books, broadsides, and printed ephemera.
FRANCIS. 1984 - . (ChRiv-px): Multilingual, multidisciplinary index to journals in the humanities and social sciences.
HEARTH: Home Economics Archive, Cornell University Library.: "HEARTH is a core electronic collection of books and journals in Home Economics and related disciplines. Titles published between 1850 and 1950 were selected and ranked by teams of scholars for their great historical importance. The first phase of this project focused on books published between 1850 and 1925 and a small number of journals. Future phases of the project will include books published between 1926 and 1950, as well as additional journals. The full text of these materials, as well as bibliographies and essays on the wide array of subjects relating to Home Economics, are all freely accessible on this site. This is the first time a collection of this scale and scope has been made available." Subjects include clothing and textiles.
Historic Dress in America. 1904 - 1910: Illustrated history of clothing in the U.S. Available online through the Internet Archive: Historic Dress in America: 1607-1800, also available in reprint edition, Mugar GT 607 M22 1977 v. 1. Historic Dress in America, 1800-1870, available in reprint edition, Mugar GT 607 M22 1977 v.2.

Historical Abstracts. 1954 - . (BU-px): Indexes and abstracts periodical literature and dissertations on world history (excluding the U.S. and Canada) from 1450 to the present.
Historical Newspapers of the New York Times. 1851-2004. (BU-px): A full-image archive of the entire historical run of The New York Times, from 1851-2001. Every word appearing in the New York Times for this period is indexed, including those found in display and classified ads, comics and cartoons as well as editorials. Full page in-context pdf images as well as individual item pdf images are available.

Humanities Full Text. 1983 - . (ChRiv-px).: Indexes and abstracts periodical literature in the humanities. Includes full text of articles from nearly 250 journals as far back as 1995. For retrospective searching (1907-1984) use Humanities and Social Sciences Retrospective, which indexes nearly 1,200 periodicals as early as 1907.
International Medieval Bibliography. 1967 - . (ChRiv-px): Index to journal articles in medieval studies. Subject headings include "clothing" and "textiles".
JSTOR. (BU-px): Archive of scholarly journals in electronic format, digitized from the first issue onward to a "moving wall" of two to seven years ago.
MLA International Bibliography. 1926 - . (BU-px): International index to journals, series, monographs, working papers, bibliographies and dissertations on modern languages, literature, linguistics and folklore. Subjects include clothing, fashion and the human body.
The Nineteenth Century in Print: The Making of America in Book and Periodicals.: Library of Congress American Memory Collection of 23 digitized 19th century American periodicals and 1500 19th century books.
Project Muse. (ChRiv-px): Provides access to the full text of over 100 scholarly journals in the arts and humanities, social sciences and mathematics. Coverage varies for each journal.
PsycINFO. 1872 - . (BU-px): "Contains nearly two million citations and summaries of journal articles, book chapters, books, dissertations and technical reports, all in the field of psychology." Subject headings include clothing, fads and fashion, and physical appearance.
Social Sciences Full Text. 1983 - . (ChRiv-px).: Indexes and abstracts core journals in such fields as anthropology, criminal justice and criminology, gender studies, geography, gerontology, minority studies, social work, sociology, and urban studies. Includes full text of articles from 215+ journals as far back as 1995. For retrospective searching (1907-1984) use Humanities and Social Sciences Retrospective, which indexes nearly 1,200 periodicals as early as 1907.
Sociological Abstracts. 1952 - . (BU-px): Indexes and abstracts periodical articles, conference papers, proceedings, dissertations and book reviews in sociology and related fields. Subject terms include clothing, fads, fashions, and garment industry.
Studies on Women and Gender Abstracts. 1995 - . (ChRiv): Indexes and abstracts journal articles, chapters, and books on women. The focus is on "education, employment, women in the family and community, medicine and health, female sex and gender role socialisation, social policy, the social psychology of women, female culture, media treatment of women, biography, literary criticism, and historical studies." Formerly Studies on Women Abstracts (1983- 1999), Mugar Ref. X Z7962 S78
Women's Studies International. 1972 - . (BU-px): Contains citations or citations/abstracts from ten women's studies databases.
Bibliography for "These Shoes Were Made for...Walking?": Bibliography for a past exhibition at Harvard's Tozzer Library on footwear across cultures and ages.
Fashion and Costume in American Popular Culture: A Reference Guide. 1996: Bibliographic essays on American fashion and costume, with chapters arranged primarily by type of resource. Mugar Ref. X Z5694 U5 O45 1996
Theatrical Costume, Masks, Make-up and Wigs: A Bibliography and Iconography. 2000: Bibliography and iconography of performance costume covering theater history through 1996. International in scope, it includes designers, performing arts, ballet, dance, opera, operetta, commedia dell'arte, masquerade, carnival, costume, masks and hand-props, and make-up and wigs. Mugar Ref. X Z5691 J68 2000

Internet Sources.

American Antiquarian Society Library.: Located in Worcester, Massachusetts, the AAS Library documents the life of America's people from the colonial era through the Civil War and Reconstruction. The library contains more than three million books, pamphlets, graphic arts, newspapers, periodicals, and manuscripts.
Arthur & Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America.: Housed in the former Radcliffe College library building, the Schlesinger Library "collects manuscripts, books, and other materials essential for understanding women's lives and activities in the United States."
Bata Shoe Museum.: Toronto shoe museum with 10,000 shoes spanning 4500 years of history. Web site links to online exhibits.
Children's Clothing Collection, Wisconsin Historical Museum Historical Collections.: "The Wisconsin Historical Museum owns more than 2000 articles of children's clothing and related objects. These include a variety of handmade and factory-made outerwear, underwear, headwear, and footwear worn by boys and girls from infancy through adolescence. Most of the clothing dates from the mid-1800s to the present, and many items are documented as having been worn in Wisconsin. Thanks to a donation from Pleasant T. Rowland, the Museum is able to provide researchers with an on-line pictorial tour of this collection."
Costume Institute, Metropolitan Museum of Art.: "The Costume Institute houses a collection of more than 80,000 costumes and accessories spanning five continents and as many centuries."
Costume Society of America.: "The Costume Society of America advances the global understanding of all aspects of dress and appearance. We work to stimulate scholarship and encourage study in the rich and diverse field of costume."
Dorothea June Grossbart Historic Costume Collection, Wayne State University Library.: "This demonstration project provides digital images and descriptions of the Dorothea June Grossbart Historic Costume Collection. The physical collection contains over 400 garments and accessories from the 19th and 20th centuries."
Drexel Historic Costume Gallery.: "A searchable database of archival data and detailed graphics for the Drexel Historic Costume Collection, housed in the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA., as well as objects loaned to the project for inclusion in the database."
Fashion and Costume.: Selected list of Internet resources on fashion and costume history compiled by a reference librarian and published in C&RL News, April 1999.
Fashion, Costume and Textiles Subject Guide, UC Davis Library.: Library research guide, includes links web sites for the clothing and textile industry, theater and movie costumes, old magazines, and image collections.
Fashion Plate Collection, University of Washington Libraries, Digital Collections.: "This collection includes 417 fashion plates from 1806-1914 from some of the leading fashion journals of the times: La Belle assemblee, Le Bon ton, Le Follet, courrier des salons, Journal des dames et des modes, Godey's lady's book and magazine and others. The hand-colored illustrations cover many stylistic periods in French and English history. These styles overlapped as the fashions and tastes changed. These include the Empire (1806-1813), Georgian (1806-1836), Regency (1811-1820), Romantic (1825-1850), Victorian (1837-1859), Late Victorian (1860-1900) and Edwardian (1901-1915)."

The History of Costume.: The History of Costume, or Zur Geschichte der Kostüme was originally printed in Munich between 1861 and 1880, first as plates in a magazine and later as a book. Contains 500 plates of costume design from antiquity to the end of the 19th century.
Interpreting Veils and Understanding Turbans.: Seattle Times illustrated guides to head and body coverings of Muslim and Hindu women and headwear of Muslim and South Asian men.
Kent State University Museum.: The museum collections include ethnic costume, fashion and textiles. See their Bissonnette on Costume: A Visual Dictionary of Fashion.
Ruffs, Ribbons, Collars and Cravats: A Brief History of Neckwear as Illustrated by the Rosenbach Collection of Portrait Miniatures.: Online exhibition of portrait miniatures at Philadelphia's Rosenbach Museum and Library, illustrating the historic development of men's and women's neckwear.

Research Guides

Clothing, Fashion & Appearance

Subject Headings.

Reference Works.

Indexes, Abstracts and Full Text Sources.

Bibliographies.

Internet Sources.