618 South Michigan Building of Columbia College, 8th floor
Established in 1989, this collection is an academic and inspirational resource supporting teaching and learning across disciplines through the exploration of dress and its relationship to history, culture, art, design, business, and technology. It also houses fashion accessories, advertisements, books, periodicals, visual media and other reference materials. It is available by appointment.

Explore the history of fashion from ancient to modern times with hundreds of essays on artworks, garments and films. Learn about the styles, trends, designers and cultural contexts of fashion.

The original fashion plates collected by Blanche Payne and others have been cataloged and carefully stored for preservation purposes in archival housing. Many of these plates are from some of the leading French, British, American, and other continental fashion journals of the 19th century and early 20th century.

Tips on research about Chicago's department stores and catalog houses.

Research the history of clothing and fashion in Chicago and beyond.

Get inspired with vintage fashion looks. Features a fashion timeline along with guides for identifying vintage designer labels, lingerie, hats, fur and fabrics A to Z.

The Vintage Patterns Wiki has over 83,500 sewing patterns dating until 1992. Browsing by decade, it's fascinating the see how fashion evolves over time.

This digital collection includes millinery, dressmaking, clothing and costume books from the UW-Madison collections. These books from the first half of the 20th century (1907 – 1940's) include the history of clothing, styles of dress, fashion drawing, and design and construction of hats, clothing and costumes.

A YouTube Collection from British Pathé shares historical and vintage beauty, fashion, and retro lifestyle clips.

An overview of costume history, key costume designers, working collaborations, video links to performances exemplifying costume design, ideas explored by costume designers along with a resource list of books -- many available at the Library. (Sign In -- Using your Columbia College Chicago Email Address)

Explore online the inspiration, craftsmanship, hidden stories, creative collaborations and standout collection pieces from fashion designer Alexander McQueen's celebrated career. See his personal collection of reference books that were intrinsic to his development as a designer at The National Art Library at the V&A...and discover some of these same titles through our Library as well.