Finding Background Information
Reference works are helpful for background information on your topic and often have bibliographies which will lead to other resources. The articles might help you develop your topic and identify search terms. You might research people and ideas connected to your fashion theory.
- Gale eBooks This link opens in a new windowThis database allows you to find encyclopedia articles from a variety of disciplines. For example, here is a link to an article From the Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion about fashion theories. You might also research a fashion theory here or search for information about a person connected with that theory. George Mead is connected with the Symbolic Interaction theory. Here is an article about Mead found in the International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Here is an article about Symbolic Interactionism, which forms the basis of that fashion theory.
Finding Articles
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new windowGood all sorts of topics including fashion. Indexes some important fashion journals.
- Business Source Complete This link opens in a new windowLocate articles found in Women's Wear Daily and Time Magazine. Good for the business aspects of fashion. Although it searches across thousands of publications, searches can be limited a to a single publication. Look for the Publication box below the search boxes.
Note: This database includes the text of articles. Many of the articles include pdf text which will have the page number, making citation easier. - Vogue Archive This link opens in a new windowSearch and browse every issue of Vogue from 1892 to the previous month. Unlike the publisher's website, it provides unlimited subscription-free access.
- NRFThe National Retail Federation website. Although this is not a library database, it is a reliable source for articles related to fashion.
- OneSearch This link opens in a new windowGood for articles, books, and other resources. Tells you what is in our collections and where they are located. You can limit to peer reviewed articles, to books and other formats too. Put quotes around phrases and capitalize Boolean operators (e.g. AND, OR, NOT).
- Art Full Text This link opens in a new windowIndexes 15 fashion related journals. Here some examples of articles related to"Haute Couture" OR Fashion. Also good for fashion forecasting. You might do a search like "Fashion Forecasting" OR Color Forecasting.
- Sociological Abstracts This link opens in a new windowGood for sociological aspect of a fashion topic or if the the theory has its origins in sociology.
Reference works are helpful for background information on your topic. See the sources below. You find information about the people and ideas connected to your fashion theory.
Finding Books
Use OneSearch to find all sorts of books and eBooks. To limit results to books, use the Content Type facet on the results list to limit to Book / eBook. When you search, couple broad terms with narrower terms.
Examples of broad terms:
"Fashion Industry" OR "Fashion Design" OR "Fashion Merchandising" OR "Clothing Trade" OR "Clothing and Dress" OR Dressmaking OR "Garment Cutting" OR "Fashion Designers"
Click here to perform that search.
Examples of narrower terms:
Modern OR Modernism OR Postmodern OR Post-modern OR "Post Modern" OR Post-postmodern OR "Bell Curve" OR Trickle-across OR "Innovation Theory" OR "Historic Resurrection" OR "Adoption and Diffusion" OR "Shifting Erogenous Zones"
Click here to perform that search.
Click here to perform both searches combine with AND.
Reference books are good for background information and often include a bibliography which will direct you to other sources, including articles. You might do an Advanced search and put the broader search terms listed above in the top box and put Encyclopedia OR Reference Work in the second box.
Here are a few examples of reference works which might be helpful
- Encyclopedia of Clothing and FashionHere is a link to an article From the Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion about fashion theories.
- World Clothing and Fashion : An Encyclopedia of History, Culture, and Social InfluenceThis encyclopedia takes at clothing from a multicultural, social, and economic perspective and explores its history from prehistoric times to the present. Here is an article about fashion design
- Ethnic Dress in the United States : A Cultural EncyclopediaThis encyclopedia has more than 150 articles about how articles from other countries have influenced U.S. fashion. Here's an article about the Dahshiki.
- Gale eBooks This link opens in a new windowThis database allows you to search more than 500 reference sources such as encyclopedias as well as many other eBooks. Here is a link to an article From the Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion about fashion theories.