How I research my historical costumes without losing my mind

Do you feel overwhelmed when researching a historical garment or fashion era? Here’s my basic method for studying dress history when I’m starting a new costume project. From fashion plates to extant clothes, art & portraiture to books and academic and historic text sources, follow along as I research the design of my upcoming Robe a la Francaise.
(The number of sniffles I had to edit out of this video was obscene.)
** REFERENCES **
This was recorded a bit haphazardly so I apologize for not linking to every source seen in the video, but here are some highlights from my bookmarks collection. If you see something specific in the video that's not linked here, please leave a comment and I'll try to look for it.
GENERAL FASHION TIMELINES
fashionhistory...
MUSEUMS
www.metmuseum.... (Largest museum collection in the world)
collections.mf...
www.vam.ac.uk/...
collections.la...
sparcdigital.f...
www.nationaltr...
www.thejohnbri...
www.rijksmuseu...
www.europeana.... (aggregate of several European museum collections)
www.artic.edu/...
gallica.bnf.fr... (collection is somewhat hard to search)
digital.librar...
www.ngv.vic.go...
www.museumoflo...
AUCTION HOUSES
www.kerrytaylo...
www.meg-andrew...
FASHION PLATES
17th Century collection collections.la...
La Mode Illustree ateliernostalg...
Los Angelas Public Library tessa.lapl.org...
Gallery of French Fashions (late 1700s) gallica.bnf.fr...
Fashions of London and Paris (regency) collections.br...
www.metmuseum....
HISTORIC MAGAZINES
A bit about magazine history: wordwenches.ty...
McCalls (1890s-1920s) onlinebooks.li...
Delineator (1880s-1930s) onlinebooks.li...
Ladies Home Journal (1880s-1920s) onlinebooks.li...
Beau Monde (regency) archive.org/se...[]=collection%3A%22pub_beau-monde-or-literary-and-fashionable-magazine%22
La Belle assemblée (Regency era) catalog.hathit... and regencyfashion...
Lady’s Monthly (Regency) catalog.hathit...
ART & PORTRAITURE
historicalport...
artuk.org/disc...
www.nga.gov/
BLOGS AND WEBSITES
www.elizabethan...
List of free historic tailoring books: mantuadiary.bl...
cottesimple.com/ (Late medieval)
rosaliegilbert... (medieval)
festiveattyre....
thepragmaticco...
rococoatelier....
fashion-era.com/
janeaustenswor...
demodecouture.com/
www.mimimatthe...
witness2fashio...
ateliernostalg...
archive.org/
www.jstor.org/
Interesting things I found while researching
www.slam.org/c...
en.wikipedia.o...
www.loc.gov/co...
** CONNECT **
Follow me on Instagram @dixiediy: / dixiediy
If you'd like to support the channel, I have a Ko-Fi account: ko-fi.com/dixi...
I may not always have time to respond to all comments but know that I do read and appreciate them!

[@jc8847kvkc]

Favorite of mine is old laundry lists, can be very descriptive and many museums in the DC area still have them available

[@kikidevine694]

The Old Bailey trial records are another great source

[@thecalicoheart7946]

@@kikidevine694Thank you for the tip! 😁🙏

[@chrysanthemum8233]

I wonder a little if those extremely elaborate brocades survived more because the fabric was much more expensive than other fabrics, so they would only be owned by people who were rich enough that the cost of buying a new dress wouldn't be an issue but their social circle would notice if they had last year's dress remade into this year's style.

[@DixieDIY]

That’s a great point!

[@New_Wave_Nancy]

Former librarian here - thanks for the great info! Well presented.

[@zoeorchid]

It's always a good day when you post another video!

[@DixieDIY]

Aww thank you ☺️

[@skirtedgalleons]

I hope you feel better! Nice video. Agree with everything, especially to just do the thing. You will keep learning. If you hold off on a project so it's "perfect" you'll never do anything. I would argue that the sewing of the garment teaches you a lot, not just in skills, but how the garments work. Another good source for info are the good historical pattern companies. The booklets you get with some of these patterns are really great at helping you pick fabric and understand construction. Some examples would be: Black Snail, JP Ryan, Tudor Tailor, and Scroop. For a 1918 skirt pattern Scroop included old magazine ad images to give you an idea of the colors and fabrics. Burnley and Trowbridge sells 18th century appropriate fabric and notions, but they also have a fantastic series of KZbin videos on 18th century handsewing and clothing construction.

[@bigbucketlist]

I am, like so many (if not most!) of us that are making things, suffering from perfectionism. This leads to a fear of even starting a project before I know as much as humanely possible about the subject. But knowing as much as humanely possible about the subject means that I will have to study for years, and often need resources that isn't available to me. And while spending hundreds of hours in a specialty library that I needed several licenses to enter is great fun, what I really wanted to do was to enjoy the tactile process of weaving a narrow woolen band for the cuffs of a tunic (that will be worn outside, in the winter, in northern scandinavia, and therefore in complete darkness because the sun doesnt really rise at all until spring, and the cuffs will probably not even be visible with huge woolen mitts anyway! As you say, somewhere we have to set up a finish line for research and just get started.

[@mimistitchcraft]

Lol, you're so right about the online Dunning Kruger historical accuracy police. I think a lot of people take what they've seen in one book they've looked at as somehow representative of *all* fashion of that period, when in reality it's just one example in a sea of variety. Great video!

[@DixieDIY]

Thank you! There are some folks out there who genuinely have the credentials and research to back up their claims, and I'm grateful for them, but those people can't sit on the internet all the time answering questions.

[@elleghe4560]

The Kyoto institute of costume have drool worthy collection of western fashion c 1750 to 1980 (?). Many are published in a book. If ordering just pay attention to the size. There is a coffee table version and a pocket size (not in thickness though😉) version if you are not that into details.

[@michellecornum5856]

research -- that's a dangerous rabbit hole. How many new ideas have I gotten just trying to find information about something I'm already working on!

[@DixieDIY]

This is also a problem I have! lol

[@yobespierre]

if a book is published by a big press, chances are you can ask your library to buy a copy! you're probably not the only person who would check it out! also, ask about inter library loans! might just be that another library system has the book and will send it to you!

[@DixieDIY]

Oooh I didn’t consider that! My library in my old town had a bunch of useful fashion books but not in my current city.

[@elizabethclaiborne6461]

India had a centuries old export business in fabric, they were astonishing with fabric printing! Export goods were designed for the tastes of the buyers there. The Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto has a leading collection of these fabrics and mounted a massive show just in time for Covid and the border closing! They have an amazing KZbin channel and a more amazing book, so fabric nerds? GO! Chintz? Indian. Paisleys? Indian. It’s a flower that grows in India, not a Scots town. Ect.

[@donnacoleman4624]

Thank u so much for this informative video. Can't tell u how many times I've been discouraged by the "historically correct" police. I finally decided to just make the thing, learn from the thing, and then make another thing that's better than the first😊 I've learned alot by using some of the resources u mentioned and watching my favorite sewists videos. Hope u get well soon❤

[@DixieDIY]

That's great to hear. Thank you so much for watching!

[@Yrie27]

This is such an excellent guide to costume research! It reminded me of working on my last project, a long time ago now.

[@mjdc2533]

Greatly informative and interesting idea. Thanks so much for this down to earth and easy to grasp video. ❤

[@DixieDIY]

Thanks for being here :)

[@bohemiansusan2897]

My perspective is a bit different. I studied historical anthropology and tend to gravitate towards the more Bohemian styles of dress in period dress. It is impossible to do a completely historically accurate garment. The fabrics were done differently back then. The wool has changed and heritage sheep breeds produce different fibers today than that of the past. Even the silk worms have evolved over the centuries. It's a big pain to also work with such narrow fabrics like those of the past. So I just ignore the accuracy police. My period clothes get mixed in with my current contemporary wardrobe. I can't afford to sew items that sit in the closet. I will wear a velvet pelisse with a pepper shirt, skinny jeans and granny boots and maybe a beret or men's Tudor hat. I usually tend towards punk and goth outside of work. The entire point of making period clothes is just for one's enjoyment. So what, if the pattern came from one of the big four. The world will not end if something is made from Butterick. Go with the intended project in the time frame you're after. Worst case scenario is that you could do decorative embroidery stitch down one of the stripes. Enjoy your project! I look forward to seeing what you produce 😀

[@lesleyharris525]

Hi Dixie, sorry you missed your event, hope you're feeling better now, 😊 . Thanks for letting us know how you find the information you use to help you in making the dresses you make it was very interesting, ❤

[@missemily3264]

Thank you for teaching us how to look up these historic clothes. p.s. I love your outfit! I have saved that Mommy and me video to watch later.

[@sarahmwalsh]

The Web Gallery of Art is an excellent resource for portraits!

[@daxxydog5777]

If you want to make a gorgeous gown in a stripe, go for it! They would have as well, back in the day.

[@kathleenwoods8416]

This is going into my 'sewing for dummies' play list, since this is the kinda thing I should get smarter about.

[@coreygilles847]

Feel better!

[@elizabethclaiborne6461]

🤣 I think I’m in that Facebook group. It sounds waaay familiar!

[@angelaross1]

Hope you are feeling better now. We did miss you at the picnic and look forward to to the next event

[@DixieDIY]

Thanks! I am better and I’m looking forward to events next year!

[@kikidevine694]

That's amazing fabric!!!!

[@Ben-kv7wr]

Delicious, finally, some good f*cking nuance

[@jomercer21113]

I need a complete daytime outfit for a 31-year-old wife of a miller in 1765 Berg, Canton Thurgau, Switzerland, and then an outfit for a 65-year-old farmer's wife in 1755 Uetendorf, Canton Bern, Switzerland (these are our 5th and 8th great grandmothers, respectively. Most of what I find for resources are frustratingly non-detailed (and of questionable accuracy) touristy postcards from the late 19th century or later, mostly depicting the amazing array of womens' headwear peculiar to each region.

[@roxannlegg750]

The number of times I have had friends who are also costume drama fans reply whhen i compllain about the volume of innacuaracy, reply with - "well it HAS to be accurate - its on TV!!". DOH

[@AnniCarlsson]

They most likely had stripes due to the fact it's allways people that refuse to follow fashion tonthe teeth. They either didn't really care or was to rich to need to bother. As long at the pattern was able to be made with the knowledge they had it couldnhave existed and been used

[@NoraRoisin]

Very curious about the fabric of your shirt or dress in this video! I'm guessing it's cotton? I love ikat and am looking out for sources...

[@DixieDIY]

It’s from itokri.com in India!

[@NoraRoisin]

Thanks so much! :D @@DixieDIY

[@hakudoushinumbernine]

You are just ahead of your time. La Madame Dixie enjoys stripes, but not the florals😏😏😏 finagle!

[@lindaabraham8715]

Do you realize that you end every sentence with an uplift in your voice, as though every sentence is a question? Did you know that this is extremely distracting and tiresome? I wonder if this a rich Valley Girl accent, or just an affectation? And halfway through this video, I can't listen anymore?

[@thecalicoheart7946]

Because I make stuff however I want for my own sense of enjoyment and fun and am definitely not welded to the *historically accurate* thing, I was interested to hear what you had to say. 🧐 I love how much sense you talk. 😁 Ultimately, this activity is supposed to be fun, and everything is subjective anyway, in the end. 🤷🏼‍♀️ Thank you for all you share. I have learned a lot from you. 😊🙏🫶

[@DixieDIY]

Thanks for watching! I like that this hobby can accommodate various levels of desire for historical accuracy. Everyone can fit somewhere on that spectrum!