ROM Library & Archives

About the Fashion Plates Collection at the ROM Library & Archives

The fashion plates collection is housed in the Royal Ontario Museum's Richard Wernham and Julia West Library & Archives. The Library & Archives is part of the University of Toronto Libraries (UTL) system, and the library holdings can be found through the UTL catalogue.

The Library & Archives is open to the public, by appointments only, Tuesday to Friday, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with the exception of statutory holidays. Appointments can be booked via the online booking system. As a research library, our collections are non-circulating and materials are strictly in-library use only. It is recommended that you contact the library before your visit to ensure the availability of the materials you seek.

To start your research, it is advisable to consult secondary sources, which present an overview of your topic, in order to determine which primary sources may best fit your research. Some secondary sources related to fashion plates are included in this guide, as are contemporary titles that reproduce original fashion plates; please see the related sections. 

The ROM Library & Archives has digitized some fashion plates, and can be found on the library's Flickr page.

Some of the fashion plates in the ROM's collections may be scanned or copied in low resolution for personal or study use, depending on the physical condition of the item (please ask staff for assistance) within these guidelines. All researchers wishing to make scans or copies must abide by copyright provisions outlined in the Canadian Copyright Act, please review the UTL's guidelines and FAQ related to copyright. Scanning using the library's scanner is free of charge, please bring a USB memory stick. Printing from our computer terminals is 15¢ per page for both letter and legal size. Colour printing is $1.00 per page, available upon request. High Quality Images may be available, depending on the intended use -- please contact us for prices. Providing us with the copyright information along with the title of the publication and/or a call number, will help us to serve you more efficiently.