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Library Guides

Fashion Design: Home

The aim of this guide is to provide helpful resources and tips for research in fashion

New Students : Library and Learning development orientation

The new Library Services Orientation guide has been written to help new fashion students understand the resources and services on offer.  Please look at this first.

Image of Library orientation guide

Crown to Couture is a fabulous exhibition at Kensington Palace, ending October 29th 2023.  The exhibition catalogue is on order and can be requested on Library Search. 

School of Arts Librarian

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James Thickins
Contact:
I am part of the Academic Engagement and Learning Development team (AELD). Book an appointment with me individually or in groups online or in person to discuss your research needs.

Emails to members of the Academic Engagement and Learning Development team go to an email pool in the first instance:

studentcentre@westminster.ac.uk

Library Search

Library Search is good for academic research on fashion.  Not only does it list all the books that the library holds, it also provides links to content from most of the periodicals literature that we have access to. 

As well as searching for a specific topic that you are interested in, look as well at books that cover a broad area. These subject searches may be a useful way to start.

Google books can also be useful for research.

Other search tools

Google Scholar and Google Books can also be useful for research.  You might also search Library Hub Discover to find what is available in other libraries.  You can use the inter-library loan service to request items from other libraries.

New Books!

Check out what is new in the library related to fashion here.

 

Academic journals

Library Search is the best place to start research, but you might also want to look specifically at some of the fashion journals listed here.  For the cultural context of fashion, I suggest looking at Fashion Theory journal.

Newspapers / Magazines

The library takes the following magazines in print.  Those marked with an asterisk are also available online.

  • 10 Men
  • Another Magazine  [via Exact Editions - select via institution]
  • Another Man  [via Exact Editions - select via institution]
  • Collezioni Donna & Haute Couture
  • Collezioni Trends
  • Collezioni Uomo
  • Dazed [via Exact Editions - select via institution]
  • Drapers*
  • Elle - English Edition
  • Elle - French Edition
  • Fantastic Man
  • I-D Magazine
  • GQ (Gentlemen's Quarterly)*
  • Marie Claire (French Edition)
  • Retail Week
  • Selvedge*
  • Sport & Street Collezioni – Italy
  • Style (The Sunday Times)
  • Tank Magazine
  • Textiles Magazine*
  • V Magazine
  • View Magazine (incorporating Textile View Magazine + View2)
  • Vogue (France)
  • Vogue (UK)
  • Vogue (USA)

*Available online via Library Search

 

PressReader
PressReader image​​​​​​​

You will also find lots of fashion magazines on PressReader including:

  • Numero
  • Vogue (Australia, France, Italy, Spain)
  • Marie Claire
  • Vanity Fair
  • Elle
  • GQ
  • Harpers Bazaar (India, Singapore, Maylaysia)
  • Wallpaper
  • WWD

Plus the following UK newspapers with supplements 

  • The Guardian
  • The Observer
  • The Independent (not Independent on Sunday)
  • The Daily Mail
  • The Mail on Sunday (+ You Magazine)
  • The Daily Telegraph
  • The Sunday Telegraph

There are also many international newspapers.

Press Reader can be accessed via the Web or via the PressReader mobile app

Vogue Archive guide [external]

Key resources

Fashion business sources

Business of Fashion 

First-time users REGISTER HERE using your university email address (e.g. w1234567@my.westminster.ac.uk) for BoF Professional for free.     BoF will send you a confirmation link (check your junk mail).  This gives you unlimited access to articles, members-only exclusive content, and the BoF Professional iOS app, but not case studies or BoF Education (their e-learning platform)  You can select newsletters from the sign-up page, but more are available once you sign in: see Account details / Email subscriptions. The Business of Fashion YouTube Channel has additional content.

SEE ALSO Fashion Business Library Guide

Trends

NB: IF YOU EXPERIENCE PROBLEMS LOGGING INTO WGSN, PLEASE READ THE TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE

Visual research resources

More resources on the Image / Moving Image guide