BA Fashion
Meet your Librarian – Jenny Williams
About Jenny
Jenny Williams is the Subject Librarian responsible for Architecture, Fashion, FCP, FMB, Textile Design and Interior Design. She studied Contemporary Crafts and Ceramics up to MA Level and Information and Library Studies at Aberystwyth University.
How Can I Help You?
You can book one to one tutorials with me to help you with your research or referencing, please contact me via email or you can drop into the library office (DS103) to have a chat!
I work all day Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday morning.
As a team, we also provide research and referencing drop in sessions to assist you in the run up to written work hand-ins, keep an eye on Instagram (@norwichuni_library) for times and dates.
E-Book Collections
Try these virtual shelves which link you to ready-made collections of e-books on specific subjects.
Useful E-Book Collections for BA Fashion:
Fashion (Proquest)
Print Books
Books
Fashion books are held at Dewey Decimal number 761.
With the exception of short loan books, everything can be borrowed for three weeks. They are broken down into more specific subject areas like this:



Useful Sources of Information
Reading lists
The below lists include sources you may find useful when studying for your units. ‘Required’ resources are essential to the unit and we strongly advise you use them. ‘Recommended’ and ‘Further’ sources are all available via the Library and are suggested to help you with your research for this unit. Don’t forget, you can find a lot more than is listed here by searching the Library online.
Online Resources
As well as printed materials, the Library also has a wide selection of online resources to help you with your research.
Useful Online Resources for BA Fashion:
Drapers
From website:
Drapers has been the leading authority on fashion retailing in the UK since 6 August 1887.
We provide industry news, insightful analysis, commentary and key data, as well as a growing portfolio of face-to-face networking opportunities.
From the rise of digital to challenges around sustainability and changing consumer habits, this dynamic industry has undergone many changes over the years. What remains throughout though, is the creativity and passion of those that work within it.
At Drapers we strive to educate, inspire and connect the newcomers and leaders alike in this innovative sector. Our readers trust us to deliver high-quality, independent journalism that helps them to remain competitive in today’s challenging and fast-changing trading environment.
Statista
Statista offers over 1.5 million statistics from over 18,000 sources, available immediately in easy to use graphs you can use in your own reports and presentations. Statista includes market data, industry reports, forecasts, opinion polls and infographics.
A video guide to using Statista is available on the VLE.
WGSN
WGSN is an online trend-analysis and industry research service for the fashion design and retail, and interiors industries. You can also link to their separate database, WGSN Lifestyle & Interiors, using the menu at the top of the screen.
To use WGSN off-campus you need to log in using your NUA email address, by clicking on the button in the top right corner. You will be asked to verify your email and username on the NUA page. After this you will be directed back to WGSN logged in.
Please note: you may only access this resource for the purposes of individual, educational study. Reports, images and overall content are for information purposes only and must not be shared or distributed across social media or any external platforms. Never share your username and password with anyone else, or provide information from the resource to a third party.
A video guide to accessing and using WGSN is available on the VLE
Bloomsbury Fashion Central
Bloomsbury Fashion Central is a dynamic digital hub for interdisciplinary research in fashion and dress. Content is peer reviewed by industry and academic experts and includes interconnected major reference works, exclusive articles, scholarly eBooks, case studies, biographies, lesson plans, bibliographic guides, textbooks, video content, runway and backstage photos from fashion shows, and tens of thousands of images from museums around the world to create a rich educational resource.
You have access to three subscriptions from Bloomsbury Fashion Central – Berg Fashion Library, Fairchild Books Library, Bloomsbury Fashion Business Cases. This resource works with your University login and should work seamlessly if you are already logged in.
Box of Broadcasts
BoB is an up to date television streaming service available to all students and staff. BoB allows you to view recently aired programmes from over 65 channels and there is a searchable archive of 2 million broadcasts. You can also record programmes aired in the last 30 days which will be stored on the service permanently, meaning you can watch them again and again. Best of all, you do not need a TV license to use this service.
This service is not available outside of the UK. You will need to register with BoB when you first try and access it.
Video resources to support accessing and using BoB are available on the VLE.
Publications
Journals and magazines cannot be taken out on loan, but you are welcome to browse the latest issues and back copies held on the first floor of the Library.
Journals and magazines are a valuable source of visual and written material to help you in your research. It’s a good idea to get to know the titles related to your course because:
- They are up to date.
- Often the material in them covers contemporary activity and news.
- Young animators and designers will be covered in journals long before they are covered by books.
Below you will find a small selection of magazines and journals related to your course.
To see all of your course publications, use the link at the bottom of this list.
Selected BA Fashion publications:
Drapers
Drapers is your key to the UK fashion business. Every week, Drapers features the finest news, trends, catwalks, top fashion jobs, exclusive sales data and insightful viewpoints. Access online content via https://www.drapersonline.com/subs-offers/norwich-university and set up your account using your NUA email address.
gal-dem
gal-dem is a new media publication, committed to telling the stories of people of colour from marginalised genders. With our online and print magazine, we’re addressing inequality and misrepresentation in the industry through platforming the creative and editorial work of our community across essays, opinion, news, arts, music, politics and lifestyle content.
Hypebeast
Hypebeast is the leading destination for men's contemporary fashion and streetwear.
Vestoj
Vestoj is a research platform and the leading public intellectual in the field of fashion. Vestoj examines people’s relationship to their clothes and fashion’s relationship to identity. Vestoj presents fashion knowledge at the highest level, emphasising inclusive and equitable dissemination to a broad and diverse audience. Vestoj expresses complex ideas in a straight-forward manner, and shows that fashion is not only about objects, but rather a mindset and approach to identity, culture and life.
Arena Homme+
A fashion magazine for men published biannually since 1994, ‘brother’ magazine to the women’s fashion biannual Pop. Regular long-time contributors have included David Bradshaw, Steven Klein, Steven Meisel, Simon Foxton, Bruce Weber, Karl Templer, Alasdair McLellan, Joe McKenna, Panos Yiapanis, Nicola Formichetti, Olivier Rizzo, Tim Blanks, Murray Healy, Paul Morley, David Sims and Thom Murphy.
Research Reports
Research Reports
Take a look at previously submitted Norwich Uni Research Reports for Fashion.
Websites
Useful Fashion websites
- VADS online
- VADS : the online resource for visual arts
VADS comprises over 100,000 images that are freely available and copyright cleared for use in learning and research in the UK. It includes the following websites:
- London College of Fashion College Archive
The London College of Fashion College Archive is a collection of historical materials which chronicle the history of the College from its origins as two early needle trade schools up until the 1970's.
- London College of Fashion Cordwainers Shoe Collection
The shoe collection, of around 650 items, was built up by Cordwainers College as a teaching aid and it consists mainly of women's shoes with some men's and a few children's, the majority being British "fashion" footwear with some orthopaedic, some prize and exhibition work, lasts and shoemaker's tools and some ethnic footwear. A number of the items are unfinished, or cut to show technical details, and others show alterations or repairs. The shoes cover the period from 1780-1990s and include examples produced by important makers.
- London College of Fashion Gala Archive
The archive consists of eight volumes of editorial publicity cuttings, dating from 1939 to 1952, along with three volumes of advertising and point of sale product photographs, assorted loose photographs and other ephemera.
- London College of Fashion Paper Patterns
The London College of Fashion's Paper Patterns collection has accumulated over the years until it numbers some 800 dating from the 1920s to the present day.
- London College of Fashion Victor Stiebel Archive
The London College of Fashion Victor Stiebel Archive includes three sketch books: Sketch Book of 1960-1961, Sketch Book of 1962 and 1963, and Victor Stiebel Ground Floor Collections 1961-1963.
- London College of Fashion Woolmark Archive
This archive has 2,000 or so black and white photographs dating from the 1940's through to the early 1980's and capturing both the fashion of the time and the style of photography. The press releases, which in some cases are still attached to the photographs, give additional information about the garments, designers/manufacturers, the photographer and any points of interest reflecting the promotional style and language of the time.
- Zandra Rhodes Digital Study Collection
The Zandra Rhodes Digital Study Collection provides unique open online access to images of 500 of the designer's iconic garments, for use in learning, teaching, and research. These designs were selected out of thousands of garments in the private archive of Zandra Rhodes, and cover her entire creative career from the late 1960s to the present day, with particular focus on her landmark collections of the 1970s and 1980s.
- Other websites
- Fashion Revolution
An organisation made up of designers, academics, writers, business leaders, policymakers, brands, retailers, marketers, producers, makers, workers and fashion lovers campaigning for the fashion industry to value people, the environment, creativity and profit in equal measure.
- United Nations – 17 Goals to Transform Our world
The UN Sustainable Development Goals are a call for action by all countries – poor, rich and middle-income – to promote prosperity while protecting the planet.
- Westminster Menswear Archive
The Westminster Menswear Archive was founded to establish and maintain a collection of garments and related artefacts to encourage and develop the study of menswear design from a technical and functional point of view; to advance the general knowledge of menswear as a design discipline, and to be used as a resource tool to inform contemporary menswear design.
- Fashion Organisation (UK) - British Fashion Council
The British Fashion Council is a not-for-profit organisation that harnesses the collective power of the industry to enable sustainable growth and strengthen British fashion in the global fashion economy.
- Fashion Organisation (UK) - Costume Society UK
The Costume Society is a lively, friendly organisation whose aim is to promote the study and preservation of historic and contemporary dress.
- Fashion Organisation (UK) - Costume and Textile Association Norwich
The Costume & Textile Association is an independent charity seeking to promote the unique costume and textile collection of the Norfolk Museums Service.
- Fashion Organisation (UK) - Fashion & Textile Museum London
The Fashion and Textile Museum is the only museum in the UK dedicated to showcasing contemporary fashion and textile design.
- Fashion Organisation (UK) - Not Just A Label
Not Just A Label (NJAL) is the world’s leading designer platform for showcasing and nurturing today’s pioneers in contemporary fashion.
- Fashion Organisation (UK) - Somerset House
Somerset House is London’s working arts centre built on historic foundations around one of the most beautiful courtyards in Europe.
- Fashion Organisation (UK) - Victoria & Albert Museum
Spanning five centuries, our Fashion collection is the largest and most comprehensive collection of dress in the world. Key items in the collection include rare 17th century gowns, 18th century ‘mantua’ dresses, 1930s eveningwear, 1960s daywear and post-war couture.
- Fashion Organisation (International) - The Costume Institute New York
The Costume Institute's collection of more than thirty-three thousand objects represents seven centuries of fashionable dress and accessories for men, women, and children, from the fifteenth century to the present.
- Fashion Organisation (International) - Fashion Institute of Technology New York
One of New York City’s premier public institutions, FIT is an internationally recognized college for design, fashion, art, communications, and business.
- Fashion Organisation (International) - MAD
The MAD is a private organization governed by the law of 1901 on not-for-profit associations and recognized as being in the public interest. It originated in 1882, in the wake of the Universal Exhibitions, when a group of collectors banded together with the idea of promoting the applied arts and developing links between industry and culture, design and production.
- Image Database - Catwalking
Behind the scenes images from all the latest fashion shows.
- Image Database - firstVIEW
The world’s largest fashion database and photo archive.
- Image Database - SHOWstudio
Live broadcasts from catwalk shows and fashion shoots.
- Image Database - V&A Search the collections
Database of over half a million images of objects in the Museum’s collections.
- Fashion weeks
- London
London Fashion Week takes place twice a year in February and September, showcasing over 250 designers to a global audience of influential media and retailers.
- Berlin
Twice a year, Berlin becomes an international stage for fashion and lifestyle. At the Berlin Fashion Week, fashion-lovers, buyers, trade visitors and media representatives meet for shows and awards.
- Milan
Milan Fashion Week is a clothing trade show held semi-annually in Milan, Italy.
- New York
New York Fashion Week, held in February and September of each year, is a semi-annual series of events when international fashion collections are shown to buyers, the press, and the general public.
- Paris
Paris Fashion Week is a series of designer presentations held biannually in Paris, France with spring/summer and autumn/winter events held each year