One of the goals of this project was to identify possible source material in the Harvard University Archives. While Harvard is not a particular focus of my dissertation about male formalwear, I wanted to use this project as an opportunity to identify new types of primary source documents that I'm not used to using in my research.

As a fashion historian, I am familiar with looking at clothing objects and images such as fashion photographs, portrait paintings, and fashion plates. One of my long-term goals here at Harvard is to identify other types of archival sources that fashion historians might use to get a more full picture of how people had realtionships with their clothing.

Below are some of the types of documents I was interested in looking into, and why I believe they might be useful:

Photographs: While this seems an obvious source, photographs of formalwear are quite difficult to come by. This is likely because this type of dress was worn for intimate or evening occasions, when it was less likely for a photographer to be present.

Cartoons: Historical caricatures are a surprisingly good source of information for fashion. While often exaggerated depictions of reality, they're usually based on real life, not made up completely, and are often a good way to see how people thought of fashion in their own time period.

Magazine Articles and/or Letters to the Editor: articles about fashion trends (especially rare for menswear) or readers writing to ask about fashion can also provide historical context and changing opinions about dress.

College Dress Dodes or etiquette guides: menswear in particular has historically been oriented around rules. There was often a "right" thing to wear - generally for particular purpose, occasion, or time of day. Codification of these rules is an interesting source of information for a particular time period, but if I can dress codes that change over a period of years, that would be even more interesting.

Tailors: Where did men get the clothes they wore? Unlike the wives and daughters who frequently went off to Paris to buy the latest couture collection, what was the standard for men of the Gilded Age? Did they travel to London to get bespoke suits on Savile Row? Did they shop at Brooks Brothers in New York City? Would they have gone to a local tailor? Information about where they purchased their clothing could give insights to the value it had.

University Laundry Services: While clearly an under-researched area of fashion studies, looking at the maintenance of clothing can provide interesting (and often overlooked) information about clothing. How were wool suits cleaned? How were linen shirts laundered? What about silk ties and waistcoats? How much did it cost? How often was it done? How many shirts might someone have owned? Who pressed their collars?

Student (or professor) account books:  might have include information on purchases for clothing or care of clothing.

Results:

While these potential sources ended up being even more difficult to track down than I'd anticipated, it was a useful excercise to map them all out at the beginning of the project. Because each type of source focuses on a different aspect of my research, it will be useful keep them in mind in the future. Even during the course of this short project, I've found myself gravitating to the sources that are more readily available, which have mostly been more image-based sources like fashion plates and photographs. This is a good thing to keep in mind as I go forward in my project, because I'd like to have a more balanced selection of source material.