Dress history

Image of a printed fashion plate published in 1835 in the magazine Journal des demoiselles
Fashion plate, 1835. Journal des demoiselles

Dress history is the study of history, which uses clothing and textiles to understand the past. Through analyzing modes of dress, different garment types, textiles, and accessories of a certain time in history, a dress historian may research and identify the social, cultural, economic, technological, and political contexts that influence such phenomena and experiences of living during the period under investigation.

Methods of research used in dress history are wide ranging, with dress history scholars often approaching analysis from a variety of perspectives and topic interests, which may place focus on, for example, manufacture, retail, and/or consumption of clothing, modes of dress, means of sartorial expression, dress traditions, labor, trade, and capital, geography, or chronology.