Fashion History

Vicki L. Berger provides both a historical overview and a beginning guide to the literature in her chapter, "Fashion," for the 1989 Handbook of American Popular Culture. The focus is the United States , beginning with ready-to-wear clothing in the early nineteenth century and continuing to the late 1980s. The information outlined includes suggested subject headings used in library catalogs, encyclopedias, biographical dictionaries, selected indexing/abstracting services, bibliographies, and dictionaries. Museum collections and directories are included. Of interest is Berger's discussion of fashion history and theory books, which is not limited to just those for U.S. fashion and costume.

Several books provide an overview of costume and fashion history including pre- 1600s information. Douglas W. Gorsline A History of Fashion: A Visual Survey of Costume from Ancient Times ( 1955) includes mention of the United States for the period 1840- 1925. The chronological arrangement provides for both background discussion and black and white drawings from documented primary sources. Gorsline indicates that "existing costume books... tend to overlook the character of the people who wore a given dress." His drawings attempt to portray the variety of individuals who wore the different styles of clothing- for example, lumberjacks and cowboys. American costume is represented by a separate bibliography.

Mention of individuals and their contributions add to the volume's usefulness as a social history. Fashions are visually represented in many colored and black and white photographs; there is less emphasis on children. Joe Boxer offers a humorous look at shorts in 1995. Alison Carter 1992 Underwear: The Fashion History covers garments for men, women, and children from the sixteenth through the twentieth centuries and is well illustrated. Underwear has also been the focal point for several exhibits, including the Fashion Institute of Technology's 1983 Undercover Story and the 1993 Metropolitan Museum of Art, Costume Institute's Infra-Apparel whose catalog was written by curators Richard Martin and Harold Koda, with a bibliography. Though three centuries are covered, the emphasis illustrated the "evolution from private, intimate apparel to street wear."

Senior editor at Esquire, Hochswender offers both a men's fashion history and history of the periodical, citing Gentleman's Quarterly and Apparel Arts as "precursors" but "essentially trade magazines." He indicates that Apparel Arts contained wonderful illustrations but was more like a catalog than a periodical.

Unlike the media publications on specific clothing and accessories, many similar sources on the more general subject of fashion history have been produced by or in conjunction with museums. They may have been created as a result of a significant exhibition or for educational purposes. Other groups have undertaken similar projects for their educational value. Examples include the 1968 American Theatre: Costume and Stage Design from Sandak and a student project in California , Period Costumes 1890s-1960s, produced in 1973.