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Research and Help

  • 18th Century New England Life 18th Century New England life has a series of articles on the basics of women's 18th century dress. Very concise and helpful.
  • The Athenaeum Art The Athenaeum houses a collection of art ranging from centuries.
  • Blitzkrieg Baby Blitzkrieg Baby offers a thorough guide to WWII American women's uniforms.
  • Civil War Campaigner Magazine The Civil War Campaigner Magazine is a e-publication aimed at authentic civil war reenacting.
  • The Daguerreian society The Daguerrian Society houses a massive collection of Daguerreotypes from the 1840s and 1850s and is an excellent resource for costuming that era.
  • Demode Extant Clothing Demode has pulled together links to hundred of original gowns in various museums.
  • Dress Making Research This site offers a wealth of primary-source descriptions and patterns for garments from the mid 19th to early 20th century.
  • Elizabeth Stewart Clark Elizabeth Stewart Clark offers excellent mid-19th century children's patterns and sewing books for teens and women.
  • From Old Books This site offers transcriptions of several dictionaries from the 18th and 19th centuries and is a good resources for perfecting your period-correct language.
  • Ladies and Gentlemen of the 1860's Conference The Genteel Arts Academy offers mid 19th century sewing classes in Pennsylvania year round, as well as hosts a yearly conference on mid-century clothing and material culture.
  • Library of Congress The Library of Congress has an extensive database of images on their website, dating from the 1840s to present day.
  • Old and Interesting Old and Interesting has many brief articles on the history of common house keeping items and chores.

Patterns and Goods

  • B.Black and Sons B.Black and Sons offers wool fabrics.
  • Burnley and Trowbridge Burnley and Trowbridge offers wool, silks, and printed cottons.
  • District 96 Fabrics District 96 Fabrics offers silk, wool and hard to find finer fabrics.
  • Fabric Store Fabric Store offers linen in a variety of weights.
  • Fig Leaf Patterns Fig Leaf Patterns offers accurate early to mid 19th century patterns.
  • Past Patterns Past Patterns offers accurate patterns for both men and women from the early 19th century to the mid 20th century.
  • Remix Vintage Shoes Remix Vintage Shoes offers accurate reproductions of 1930s and 1940s shoes.
  • Revamp Vintage Clothing Revamp offers accurate reproductions of early to mid 20th century clothing.
  • Robert Land Robert Land offers accurate reproductions of mid 19th century footwear.
  • Timely Tresses Timely Tresses offers some of the best reproduction bonnets, patterns, and trims from the Early- Mid 19th century.
  • Mrs. Parker's Millinery Mrs. Parker's offers a variety of goods, including mid-19th century style straw hats.

Historical Costuming Forums

  • The Sewing Academy A mid-19th century sewing forum. Of all the sewing forums I've seen, this one gets top marks for historical accuracy!

Fun Costume Sites and Blogs

  • The Graceful Lady A 19th century costumer's website. Primarily commissioned work, backed up with primary resources.
  • Jessamyn's Regency Costume Companion Jessamyn's site offers research and help for creating regency era reproductions.
  • Katherine's Dress Site Katherine's Dress Site offers photographs of originals and wonderful reproductions of clothing from a variety of eras. She also has a blog.
  • Miss. Macraes blog Another primarily mid-19th century costumer, who does lovely 18th century and early 19th century work. And she takes commissions, for those who may want the dress-up, but not sew everything themselves!
  • Recycled Movie Costumes On this site you will find pictures of reused costumes people have found in various movies of many different genres. Very entertaining!
  • Stay-ing Alive Blog A two-party run blog on 18th century costuming. I recommend checking out the bloggers personal blogs as well!
  • The Three Graces More 19th century lovelies!
  • Two Nerdy Girls Blog Collection on various 18th century topics.
  • Wearing History Blog The blog of a lady who does fantastic job with Golden Era costuming.
  • ZipZip's Blog This lady has a wealth of Edwardian costuming on her blog, as well as some good reproductions and resources on other eras.

Archival Preservation

  • Gaylord Brothers
  • Lacis Lacis offers a variety of products for textile conservation and preservation with the home collector in mind; they will sell items individually where many bigger companies only sell bulk.
  • University Products

See Also

The Suggested Reading List also contains many useful sources.