Subject Guide: Theatre

The scholarly research site of the OSU Costume and Textile Museum

This Historic Costume & Textiles Collection is a scholarly and artistic resource from OSU. The 11,500+ holdings encompass a range of textiles, articles of clothing, and accessories from the mid-18th to 21st century designers.

The Museum at FIT, accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, is one of a select group of specialized fashion museums, including the Musée de la Mode, the Mode Museum, and the Museo de la Moda.

The Kent State Museum contains important collections of fashion and decorative arts. Its eight galleries feature changing exhibitions of work by many of the world's great artists and designers.

Over 6,200 hand-colored, finely detailed fashion illustrations produced between 1780 and 1880 for British and American fashion magazines. The plates depict fashionable styles of dress for men, women and children, and constitute valuable source material on the history of dress during this period in history.

The Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg house three centuries of historic clothing and accessories. From attending formal balls to getting dressed for bed, the antique clothing in the collection tells the story of daily life. Explore history's wardrobe in this online exhibit.

The Motley Collection of Theatre and Costume Design is a valuable source of documentation on the history of theatre and is housed in The Rare Book and Manuscript Library. It is a rare collection of original materials on the theatre comprising over 5000 items from more than 150 productions in England and the United States. These materials include costume and set designs, sketches, notes, photographs, prop lists, storyboards, and swatches of fabric.

Experience the past deeply through the communicative power of the world's masterwork portraits, displayed in accurate chronological order. Explore the Portrait Timeline's constantly expanding database by choosing specific eras, keywords, or thematic categories.

Over 7,000 U.S. and Canadian advertisements covering five product categories - Beauty and Hygiene, Radio, Television, Transportation, and World War II propaganda - dated between 1911 and 1955.

Online copy of magazine. Good for historical images of costume & design.