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This is a resource with inbuilt flexibility. Although not all major dress and costume books can be included, a wide range of these are discussed in the contextual articles below. The articles, written by leading dress historian Valerie Cumming, lead to other sources including bibliographies, libraries, terminology, methodology, pioneering dress historians, and costume for performance.

You can also access an up-to-date list of useful online materials for dress and fashion historians, written by Valerie Cumming, here.

Valerie Cumming is a dress historian with over 30 years’ experience in museums, initially as a costume curator, then as a senior administrator. She has served as lecturer and writer, Costume and Textile curator at the Museum of London and the Court Dress Collection, Kensington Palace. She is the author of The Visual History of Costume Accessories, The Visual History of Costume (with Aileen Riberio), A Visual History of Costume in the 17th Century, Costume History 1500-1900, Gloves in the Costume Accessories Series and Understanding Fashion History. She served as Chair of The Costume Society from 2004 to 2009 and as Editor of Costume: The Journal of the Costume Society. In 2017, she enlarged and re-edited The Dictionary of Fashion History by C. W. and P. E. Cunnington.