There are fashion plates, and then there are the exquisite fashion plates that constitute the University of Washington Libraries digitized collection. The plates were first collected by long-time home economics professor Blanche Payne, who taught at the University from 1927 to 1966. The plates come from leading French, American, and British fashion journals of the 19th and early 20th century and they document many stylistic periods, such as the Empire, Romantic, Victorian, and Edwardian. Visitors will want to start by reading an essay on the collection, and then they should feel welcome to browse the collection of over 400 plates at their leisure, or to browse the collection by subject. One fascinating aspect of the site is an extended excerpt from the 1913 book "Dame fashion" which comments on the history and transformation of various fashions during the 19th century.
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