Subject guide - Fashion 

MUSEUM COLLECTIONS: (besides Chicago collections at AIC, The Field, etc...)

• Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Costume Institute
    
• Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, Netherlands, The Fashion Collection
  

  Browse the fashion magazine De Gracieuse from 1862 - 1936.

• Bata Shoe Museum Toronto
  

  Over 10,000 items spanning 4,500 years. Includes a collection of 20th-century celebrity shoes.

• Atelier-Musée du Chapeau Making Museum, Lyon France
  

  Chazelles sur Lyon was once the center of production for de luxe hair felt hats. Since 1976 only one factory has remained in production. The Hat Making Museum collections include all types of hats for women and men from 1850 to contemporary times, including some young designers. Archives are open to students and professionals.

• Stockport Museum of Hatting
  

  Another town with historic links to the hatting industry. Demonstrations, displays, educational activities. Resident milliner and textile designer. Displays cover the hat from the early 1800's to catwalk fashions of the 21st century.

• Costume Museum of Canada Dugald, Manitoba
  

  A collection of 35,000 artifacts spanning 400 years. Emphasizes historic Canadian costume, but also contains pieces from modern designers such as Chanel, Schiaparelli, Scassi and Paco Rabanne.

• Museum Costume, Bath (U.K.)
  

  Focuses on fashionable dress for men, women and children from the late 16th century to the present day. The Museum was the creation of Doris Langley Moore, a designer, collector and historian, who gave her famous private collection of costume to the city in 1963. It now has over 30,000 objects in its collection.

• Museum of Handbags & Purses = Tassenmuseum Hendrikje (Amsterdam)
  

  The lady's handbag in western culture, from late Middle Ages to the present day. More than 2,000 purses and accesories. The museum also presents exhibitions of contemporary purse designers' work.

  There is also a "Princess Gallery - Handbag Museum in Tokyo, but I could not find a web site in English for it -- only a mention on tour info pages.

• Smithsonian Women's Dress Collection
  
  
• Drexel University Philadelphia, Historic Costume Collection
  

  Garments from the collection are inventoried in a searchable database. Search by decade, designer, category, fabric, or donor.