Theatre Arts: Costume Design

The following books are all located on the first floor of the library, in the Reference section:

Most of the books on costume design are in the GTs (in the Reference section and the Stacks on the first floor), but other resources may be useful as well, for example:

·       Books on the theatre in the PNs

·       Books with photographs of a given period, either in the photography area (TR on the third floor) or in the History section (e.g., the Great Depression in America).  Ask the Reference Librarian for suggestions. 

·       Illustrations and advertisement in magazines such as Life and Time (for America since 1920)

·       Books published at the time you’re researching, such as the 1897 Sears Roebuck Catalogue (TS199 .S432 1968) 

Books in the Reference collection on the first floor include:

·       Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion (10 vols., REF GT 507 .E54 2010)

·       The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Clothing through World History (REF GT 507 .G74 2008)

·       The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Clothing through American History (REF GT 615 .G74 2008)

·       Survey of Historic Costume (REF GT 580 .T67 2004)

·       The Dictionary of Fashion History (REF GT 507 .C86 2010)

The following books were recommended by Ashleigh Poteat during her tenure at LaGrange College. They are in the Stacks located on the third floor (except for those with call numbers beginning with GT, which are available on the first floor). 

• Period Costume for the Stage (GT733 .B53 2003)
• Worldwide History of Dress (OVERSIZE GT511 .A63 2007)
• What People Wore When:  A Complete Illustrated History of Costume from Ancient Times to the Nineteenth Century for Every Level of Society (GT511 .L474 2008)
•  Fashion (by Christopher Breward) (TT518 .B77 2003)
• 50 Designers, 50 Costumes:  Concept to Character  (TT502 .A145 2004)
• Drama, Its Costume & Décor (PN2085 .L3 1951)
• Costume Design in the Movies:  An Illustrated Guide to the Work of 157 Great Designers (TT507 .L42 1991)
• Patterns of Fashion: The Cut and Construction of Clothes for Men and Women, c1560-1620  (OVERSIZE TT 504.6 .G7 A76 1985)
• Patterns on Fashion: Englishwomen’s Dresses & Their Construction (vol. 1 c. 1660-1860; vol. 2 c. 1860-1940)  (TT 504 .A7 1972)
• Fashioning Fashion:  European Dress in Detail, 1700-1915 (OVERSIZE GT720 .T35 2010)
• Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Fashion in Detail (OVERSIZE GT585 .H37 2009)
• What Clothes Reveal: the Language of Clothing in Colonial and Federal America (OVERSIZE GT607 .B38 2002)
• Nineteenth Century Fashion in Detail (OVERSIZE GT595 .J64 2009)
• Period Costume for Stage & Screen, Patterns for Women’s Dress, 1800-1909  (PN2067 .H86 1986)
• High Style:  Masterworks from the Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection… (NK4712 .M48 2010)
• Coiffures:  Hair in Nineteenth Century French Literature and Culture (PQ283 .R535 2010)
• Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion (OVERSIZE GT596 .M876 V51)
• Fifty Years of Fashion:  New Look to Now (OVERSIZE GT615 .S74 1997)

 Costume Construction:

• Patternmaking for Fashion Design  (TT520 .A74 2010; includes DVD)
• Patterns of Fashion 4:  The Cut and Construction of Linen Shirts, Smocks, Neckwear, Headwear and Accessories for Men and Women c. 1540-1660  (OVERSIZE TT504 .A76 2008)

Other books in the collection that may be useful include: 

• The Handbook of Stage Costume  (PN 2067 .B53 2006)
• Costume and Fashion:  A Concise History (GT511 .L39 1985)
• History of Twentieth Century Fashion  (4^th ed.,  GT596 .E9 2001) 
• Historic Costume for the Stage:  Period Patterns  (PN 2067 .B3)
• Character Costume Figure Drawing: Step-by-step Drawing Methods for Theatre Costume Designers (PN2067 .T366 2004)
• Period Costume for Stage & Screen: Patterns for Women's Dress, 1500-1800 (PN2067 .H86 1986)
• Patterns of Fashion: the Cut and Construction of Clothes for Men and Women, c1560-1620  (TT 504.6 .G7 A76 1985)
• The Elements of Style:  An Encyclopedia of Domestic Architectural Detail  (NA2850 .E44 2005)
• Western European Costume and Its Relation to the Theatre  (GT720 .B73, 2 vols.)
• Costumes and Settings for Staging Historical Plays  (PN2067 .C33 1979, 4 vols.)
• The Costume Designer’s Handbook (2^nd ed.)   (TT 507 .I48 1992)
• Costume Design: Techniques of Modern Masters  (TT507 .P39 1993)
• Theatrical Design and Construction:  An Introduction to Scene Design and Construction, Lighting, Sound, Costume, and Makeup (7^th ed.) (PN2085 .G5 2013)
• American Costume, 1915-1970  (e-book)

You may also want to browse the GT, PN 2067, and TT areas.  You may find useful books that aren’t listed above.

The Costume Design books are located in the Stacks on the third floor. Please see a librarian if you cannot find the book you want.