BackStage Utah

So, it is the year 2010 and the internet has been around for a long time.� I got a late start, I confess.� I didn't even have email until 2002.� �� I can use search engines and social networking sites and post in forums, etc. but I still suck at researching things online.

� Here's what I am working on: I am preparing for a show ATG hopes to produce this year.� The play spans several centuries from 1399 to 2075.� Now of course, 2075 is still in the future so I can make up anything for it (I means to say have my costumer make up anything for it) but all of the other times are in the past.

� I'd like to make up some sketches and have a portfolio of ideas ready on the costuming for the show well before the show starts so I can intelligently work with whomever is hired as costumer.� Truth is, I can't Google search to save my life sometimes.� Putting in fashions, or fashion from each era or something like that into a search engine isn't working out for me so far.� I shall look for some books at the library, but if anyone can refer me to good costume / fashion websites that show clothing from the past and present in a way that is easy to search through, I would be greatly appreciative.� �

Here I am!  ha ha!

Ok.  First, one of the BEST resources online is The Costumer's Manifesto (and since I've forgotten how to embed links here, I'll just do the URL): www.costumes.org  It has some broken links, but overall Tara has done an amazing job.  She's the costumer at University of Alaska Juneau and knows her stuff like crazy.

There are literally hundreds of links there, but for a pretty quick-and-dirty reference (especially of the last 200 years or so), go here:  http://www.fashion-era.com/

I haven't been to Milieux for a while, but last I checked it was still pretty good.  www.milieux.com

As far as books go, if you can get your sweaty little hands on a copy of 400 Years of Fashion, The Encyclopedia of World Costume (anything by Doreen Yarwood, really), or Costume and Fashion, a Concise History, you'll be in pretty good shape.  There are some absolutely horrible publications out there, and I really don't trust many costume books that were published in the 1960s, but those three will work for your purposes.  If you REALLY want to get in depth, and if it's available at a library, you should check out Valerie Steele's 3-volume Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion.  Don't buy it if you're not me, because it's $400.00 and you'd be crazy (read: me) to want to spend that much on a reference.

I would strongly recommend avoiding anything on LiveJournal or Yahoo groups, because too many of them are populated by teenage fangirls who don't really know what they're talking about.  Keep in mind, too, that if you just want the FLAVOR of a period, and to simplify costuming, there are some really creative options from quick-throw-on-robe-things to accessories.  Going all-out can drive you nuts.

Good luck!

I am a die-hard fan of Valerie Steele, James Laver, and Doreen Yarwood.  Anything they've done is fantastic, ESPECIALLY Steele and Laver.  Steele is the director of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology and is BRILLIANT, and Laver was the Keeper of Prints, Drawings and Paintings at the V&A for many years.  He is, unfortunately, no longer with us, but his books are some of the best.  He's also the creator of "Laver's Law":  http://www.fashion-era.com/lavers_law.htm.  Yarwood does really clear line drawings and has a fine way of wording descriptions of clothing. 

Another one to watch is John Peacock, but keep in mind that he's British (like Laver and Yarwood) and therefore his more current (within the last 75 years or so) illustrations are going to reflect that.

Other really great sources are books that accompany museum exhibits and collections, anything from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Kyoto Costume Institute, Victoria and Albert Museum, the Met, and the Smithsonian.  The Universe of Fashion series has short books profiling specific designers, and the "Everyday Fashions as Pictured in Sears Catalogs" is a GREAT series for everyday clothing.  Also look at Phyllis Tortora and Keith Eubank's Survey of Historic Costume (4th Ed.).

If you want to get into the psychology of it all, Alison Lurie's The Language of Clothing is GREAT, but she is a novelist and not a historian; while she does include references in her appendices, she does not use footnotes so you're never QUITE sure what she's referencing where.  Another good one is The Social Psychology of Clothing by Susan B. Kaiser.  There are more but I can't remember them right now.

And, really, if you ever have questions about what books I've read or what I recommend, you can send me a private message or find me on Facebook.

FRANta Claus wrote on Jan 8^th, 2010 at 12:00pm:


Have we shaken hands before?  How did you know... 

Anyhow, wow.  I expected someone to lend their knowledge but what you have given me (and anyone who took tme to read your responses) was above and beyond and MUCHly appreciated.     Thanks.  I may send you a PM when the actually pre-production gets underway and see if you want a job.