The Library of Congress Online Catalog provides options and instructions for searching Library collections. The following information is specific to the subjects of clothing and dress, costume and fashion history topics.
If you know of a book that is on your topic, look up the book in the Online Catalog to see what subject terms were used to catalog the title. Click on the relevant subject heading to locate additional titles on that topic.
Subject headings in the Online Catalog derive from Library of Congress Subject Headings, available in print in all Reading Rooms, and online through the Classweb database. The following broad subject headings can be used to begin research; once you are searching the catalog you will see "subdivisions" or narrower terms to locate additional materials.
The most commonly used terms are:
These can be further specified to search for particular categories, such as:
Subject terms can be subdivided by time period (century) and geographical location. For example:
Using other subdivisions, one can limit catalog results to exhibitions, encyclopedias, and catalogs. For example:
