Research is one of the most important things a costume designer can do when getting ready to do a show. One page can not possibly hold all of the links to costume sites, articles, and costume related sites that could be valuable to a designer. Online Newspaper items might be missed completely. Maybe you don't know what kind of sources to look for. On this page, I will be including links to some of the websites that I use when doing costume research, and to articles that I found interesting. These links are in no particular order at this time.
Amazing Details a Click Away!
Are you familliar with SHORPY. If not, you should be. I have sometimes found this website difficult to navigate but that doesn’t matter. What is important is the quality of the pictures on this website. It is unbelievable how much detail you can see in these pictures. You pull up a picture, click on it to zoom in, and you are able to see details you wouldn’t imagine were there!
The secret is that the negatives were on glass so they have retained very fine detail. What pattern is on that woman’s head wrap? One click and now you what a woman in New Hampshire would have worn to Rye Beach in 1905. These pictures are not only labeled as to when and where they were taken, but if you really like one, you can order an art quality print straight from the website.
Edwardian Street Style
Street Style has been around for a long time; and since portable cameras were invented, there have been photographers documenting it. The London Daily Mail released an article about Edwardian street style, with beautiful pictures from London and Paris at the Turn of The Century.
Click the Picture of the dancing lady to see this article.
Sometimes Cool Stuff is where you least expect it.
Good costume information can sometimes be hard to find, other times you find something cool where you least expect it. Like these pictures of President Abraham Lincoln. Click on his picture to see more.
Black Cat Auditions, Life Magazine, 1961
I have no idea what show these black cat auditions were for, but Life Magazine thought it was interesting enough to cover. This is a great look at 1961 Hollywood fashions that includes farmers and socialites, as well as some cute kitties. This link is from the same website as the ex-slave pictures so it shows it's worth it to explore! Click on this little guy's picture to see more.
Ex Slaves as seen in the 1930s.
I just discovered this website today and it is pretty darn amazing. This link goes to a page containing photographs of ex slaves, but the site is definitely worth exploring in greater detail! The lady pictured here is Lizzie Hill. She was 94 and lived in Alabama when this picture was taken. Click on her picture to see more.
Mornings on Maple Street
This charming website belongs to Joe Manning, a freelance journalist and photographer (among his many other talents).
Exploring his website I found that he is trying to identify many of the child laborers from Lewis Hines' photographs. He is also trying to identify people from old photos from the Library of Congress. His website is an excellent place to start doing research on working class people from the 1920s, 30s, and 40s. Most of these pictures are labled with the identity and location of the people in the photographs, as well as the exact date the picture was taken. Click on either picture above to start exploring his website.