The Metropolitan Museum of Art Library

The Met has put up some of their out-of-print books online to read for free.  Here are some of interest to costumers:


The Age of Napoleon: Costume from Revolution to Empire, 1789–1815
http://www.metmuseum.org/research/metpublications/The_Age_of_Napoleon_Costume_from_Revolution_to_Empire_1789_1815?Tag=&title=&author=&pt=&tc=&dept=

 

 American Ingenuity: Sportswear, 1930s–1970s
http://www.metmuseum.org/research/metpublications/American_Ingenuity_Sportswear_1930s_1970s?Tag=&title=&author=&pt=&tc=&dept=

 Ancient Peruvian Mantles, 300 B.C.–A.D. 200
http://www.metmuseum.org/research/metpublications/Ancient_Peruvian_Mantles_300_BC_AD_200?Tag=&title=&author=&pt=&tc=&dept=

Bare Witness: Clothing and Nudity
http://www.metmuseum.org/research/metpublications/Bare_Witness_Clothing_and_Nudity?Tag=&title=&author=&pt=&tc=&dept=

Bloom! (A Celebration of Flowers in Fashion)
http://www.metmuseum.org/research/metpublications/Bloom?Tag=&title=&author=&pt=&tc=&dept=

The Ceaseless Century: Three Hundred Years of Eighteenth-Century Costume
http://www.metmuseum.org/research/metpublications/The_Ceaseless_Century_Three_Hundred_Years_of_Eighteenth_Century_Costume?Tag=&title=&author=&pt=&tc=&dept=

Christian Dior
http://www.metmuseum.org/research/metpublications/Christian_Dior?Tag=&title=&author=&pt=&tc=&dept=

Heroic Armor of the Italian Renaissance: Filippo Negroli and his Contemporaries
http://www.metmuseum.org/research/metpublications/Heroic_Armor_of_the_Italian_Renaissance_Filippo_Negroli_and_his_Contemporaries?Tag=&title=&author=&pt=&tc=&dept=

History of Russian Costume from the Eleventh to the Twentieth Century
http://www.metmuseum.org/research/metpublications/History_of_Russian_Costume_from_the_Eleventh_to_the_Twentieth_Century?Tag=&title=&author=&pt=&tc=&dept=

The Imperial Style: Fashions of the Hapsburg Era
http://www.metmuseum.org/research/metpublications/The_Imperial_Style_Fashions_of_the_Hapsburg_Era?Tag=&title=&author=&pt=&tc=&dept=

Infra-Apparel
http://www.metmuseum.org/research/metpublications/Infra_Apparel?Tag=&title=&author=&pt=&tc=&dept=

Islamic Jewelry in The Metropolitan Museum of Art
http://www.metmuseum.org/research/metpublications/Islamic_Jewelry_in_The_Metropolitan_Museum_of_Art?Tag=&title=&author=&pt=&tc=&dept=

La Belle Époque
http://www.metmuseum.org/research/metpublications/La_Belle_Epoque?Tag=&title=&author=&pt=&tc=&dept=

Madame Grès
http://www.metmuseum.org/research/metpublications/Madame_Gres?Tag=&title=&author=&pt=&tc=&dept=

Cochineal Red: The Art History of a Color
http://www.metmuseum.org/research/metpublications/Cochineal_Red_the_art_history_of_a_color?Tag=&title=&author=&pt=&tc=&dept=

Dangerous Liaisons: Fashion and Furniture in the Eighteenth Century
http://www.metmuseum.org/research/metpublications/Dangerous_Liaisons_Fashion_and_Furniture_in_the_Eighteenth_Century?Tag=&title=&author=&pt=&tc=&dept=

Early Indonesian Textiles from Three Island Cultures
http://www.metmuseum.org/research/metpublications/Early_Indonesian_Textiles_from_Three_Island_Cultures?Tag=&title=&author=&pt=&tc=&dept=

The Eighteenth-Century Woman
http://www.metmuseum.org/research/metpublications/The_Eighteenth_Century_Woman?Tag=&title=&author=&pt=&tc=&dept=

From Queen to Empress: Victorian Dress, 1837–1877
http://www.metmuseum.org/research/metpublications/From_Queen_to_Empress_Victorian_Dress_1837_1877?Tag=&title=&author=&pt=&tc=&dept=

Haute Couture
http://www.metmuseum.org/research/metpublications/Haute_Couture?Tag=&title=&author=&pt=&tc=&dept=

Metropolitan Jewelry
http://www.metmuseum.org/research/metpublications/Metropolitan_Jewelry?Tag=&title=&author=&pt=&tc=&dept=

Orientalism: Visions of the East in Western Dress
http://www.metmuseum.org/research/metpublications/Orientalism_Visions_of_the_East_in_Western_Dress?Tag=&title=&author=&pt=&tc=&dept=

Our New Clothes: Acquisitions of the 1990s
http://www.metmuseum.org/research/metpublications/Our_New_Clothes_Acquisitions_of_the_1990s?Tag=&title=&author=&pt=&tc=&dept=

Two by Two (Menswear coupled with Women's wear)
http://www.metmuseum.org/research/metpublications/Two_by_Two?Tag=&title=&author=&pt=&tc=&dept=

Waist Not: The Migration of the Waist, 1800–1960
http://www.metmuseum.org/research/metpublications/Waist_Not_The_Migration_of_the_Waist_1800_1960?Tag=&title=&author=&pt=&tc=&dept=

When Silk Was Gold: Central Asian and Chinese Textiles
http://www.metmuseum.org/research/metpublications/When_Silk_Was_Gold_Central_Asian_and_Chinese_Textiles?Tag=&title=&author=&pt=&tc=&dept=

Wordrobe
http://www.metmuseum.org/research/metpublications/Wordrobe?Tag=&title=&author=&pt=&tc=&dept=










This isn't counting the numerous books on paintings, drawings, sculpture, tapestry, and others that can depict costume or inspire an idea.  Go check it out: 
http://www.metmuseum.org/research/metpublications/titles-with-full-text-online?searchtype=F&rpp=12&pg=1