Historical Menswear

This site is intended to be an evolving, cultivated resource for people who are interested in the history, meaning, construction and enjoyment of male fashion.

The history of dress is itself a relatively new field, and within that menswear is often ignored, overlooked, or left in the background of the more elaborate, decorative, and/or quickly changing fashions of women. But of course male fashion is equally important when investigating anything from class and gender to economic policy and cultural identity.

Here you’ll find recommended bibliographies organized both thematically and chronologically, strong examples of historic garments in museum collections, both a current list and history of museum exhibitions devoted specifically to male clothing, blogs and other menswear sites online, and travel resources for cities around the world. Obviously this site focuses on western dress – I’d love for someone to create a resources for fashion on other cultures.