Why do most women's clothing lack adequate pockets? How did plaid become such a ubiquitous fabric pattern? What can we learn from examining an old, well-worn pair of jeans? These and other questions about our clothes and textiles are examined in Articles of Interest, a six-part mini-series within the podcast 99% Invisible. Each approximate half-hour episode addresses a different aspect of clothing...

Four books make up the rather elegant digital Costume History Collection at the Western Michigan University Library, and to pore through their pages is to experience the world of 18th and 19th century fashion. The books include designs from a Parisian women's magazine, color drawings of clothing of people of Persia, and a series of pattern diagrams. The Persian items are taken from the rather...

Have you ever wondered why we wear what we do, or why certain fashion trends remain popular over long periods of time while other fads fade away? These questions and more are explored in the podcast Dressed: The History of Fashion. Dressed, which is hosted by April Callahan and Cassidy Zachary, discusses fashion trends through a historical lens and often includes interviews with historians and...

Readers curious about how fashion has evolved over time may want to return to this resource, which provides a wealth of temporal and topical style analysis. The entire 07-26-2019 Scout Report, where the Fashion History Timeline was originally featured, may also be of interest, as its thematic focus was fashion history, generally. The Fashion History Timeline is an excellent resource for learning...

New York City's Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) is known for its internationally recognized programs in fashion, art, design, and related fields. This academic institution is also home to the Museum at FIT, which specializes in history-making "directional" fashion and boasts more than 50,000 pieces in its permanent collection. While a number of pieces in their collection date back to the...

There are fashion plates, and then there are the exquisite fashion plates that constitute the University of Washington Libraries digitized collection. The plates were first collected by long-time home economics professor Blanche Payne, who taught at the University from 1927 to 1966. The plates come from leading French, American, and British fashion journals of the 19th and early 20th century and...

Fans of fashion and fashion history will want to check out this new feature from Google Arts & Culture on the history of clothing, shoes, accessories, and other wearables from around the world. Created in collaboration with 180 cultural institutions from 40 countries, We Wear Culture features short documentaries, high resolution images, 360-degree videos, and more. In total, there are no fewer...

The Kyoto Costume Institute (KCI) is a fashion research organization that is home to a vast collection of both Western and Japanese clothing dating from the 2000s back to the 1600s, including numerous examples from haute couture designers such as Chanel and Balenciaga. Those who are unable to attend one of the institute's exhibitions in person would do well to visit their extensive digital...

Fashionable sorts will appreciate this collection of historical fashion plates offered up by the Los Angeles Public Library. The collection includes over 6,200 hand-colored, finely detailed fashion illustrations produced between 1780 and 1880 for British and American fashion magazines. Visitors to the site can browse through the fashions of the time, and the entire collection is a rather...

We originally featured this digital exhibition from Europeana in the 1-26-2018 Scout Report, and it is still informative and visually appealing for anyone whose interest is piqued by fashion history. As fashionistas will attest, sartorial trends often cycle back around after a few years or decades of obscurity. This Europeana online exhibit demonstrates that fashion trends can also reemerge...