I love it when I see my specialty on here! I can give some advice, but
there are very few definites in costume and I know nothing about your
collection. 20th century can be pretty vague.

Twentieth century costume can be very difficult, mostly because references
tend to focus a great deal on designer wear and most collections have a
great deal of non-designer that may be harder to identify. Also, when you
are unfamiliar with the pieces, they look very different flat then dressed
and this can make them harder to date. For basic identification, Dover
publications do a great deal of books that are basically original catalog
reprints that are very useful for dating objects. There are others that are
drawings, but I find the drawings to be of little help if I am looking for
a specific details that help date objects. Things like sleeve shape,
fastenings and inner structure are the most helpful in dating (and even
then there can be alot of questions). For basic dating and inventory I
would stick more to these. If you have alot of accessories, you will want
to get books specifically on accessories and look at them before you buy,
some are useless for cataloguing (no images) or badly researched, others
are amazing. The Costume Society of America website has a bookstore section
with recommended books on costume that you can order through Amazon (and
help the CSA in the process). www.costumesocietyamerica.com

If you do have specific books you are considering, I can probably give you
an opinion on it for this use.

As far as care, there are several websites on basic care, but they are
general. CCI notes cover a great deal of costume specifics and are very
good. I would greatly recommend looking into a seminar or or class on
costume care if possible, there are issues that other objects don't have,
particularly 20th century plastics and such (some are VERY bad). Boxing and
handling dresses and such correctly takes some practice and knowledge as
they are three dimensional and floppy.

I can help you with some specifics off list if you like and if you are in
the Atlanta area in two weeks I am conducting a short class on costume care
for the museum I voluteer at. I have worked on many costume inventories as
it is my specialty and can answer some questions that are bound to come up.
I can also help you with finding local resources in a lot of places.


Elizabeth Walton
www.clotheslinejournal.com
(Online academic costume journal created by Moi)



I am about to do an inventory for a museum of a woman's clothing
collection.  Could the listers please recommend references which I could
use for description, identification and care.
Thanks.

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