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Fashion Merchandising Overview

General library overview for beginning research and finding resources in fashion merchandising at TCC

Off-campus access to library databases is limited to current TCC students, faculty, and staff only. Use your TCC email and password when prompted to log in. If you have problems accessing library resources, contact the library staff for help.

Books & More

Find & Access Books

stack of books

Did you know that current TCC students can request books from other TCC library locations to be sent to the TCC campus library of your choice for pick up? Not all items can be requested (for example, reference or reserve items). Know when your assignment is due, plan ahead, and start your research early to give yourself enough time to take advantage of this option!

Search the catalog

  1. Start on the TCC Libraries homepage
  2. Find TCC Library Catalog (box on left)
  3. Select "In the Library"
  4. Select your home campus (or leave as "Any Campus" to search all TCC library locations)
  5. Type what you are searching for in the search box (for example: book title, author, topic keywords) and click Search 
  6. Use the filters on the left to narrow down your results
  7. If the item is available, results will show where it is available at
    • If the item is at more than one campus you will see "and other locations" - click to open the item record to view all campus library locations for the item.

Find on the shelf

  1. Use the location information from the catalog record to help you locate the item in the library. 
  2. The information after the library name will tell you what section of the library the item is in.
    • If it says "Circulating Collection" these you can check out and take out of the library. You will find these on the shelves.
    • If it says "Library Reserves" these books will be held at the library's circulation desk. Most of these can only be checked out for use in the library for a couple of hours.
    • Other books may list something else (for example, "New Arrivals" or "Oversized"). Books may be on display or part of a specific collection.
  3. Look for signs on the ends of the shelves to find the shelf the book should be on, then match the call number listed in the catalog to the call number on the spine of the book to locate the item on the shelf.
  4. If you need help finding a book, stop by the reference desk in the library to get help from a librarian. 

Browse the shelves

For general browsing of our print collection for fashion and fashion merchandising, these Library of Congress call number sections might be of interest:

  • GT500-2370 Costume. Dress. Fashion
  • HD28-9999 Industries. Land use. Labor (particularly HD9940)
  • HF5001-6182 Business
  • TS1300-1865 Textile industries
  • TT490-695 Clothing manufacture. Dressmaking. Tailoring

Don't forget that the library has a large collection of eBooks available! 

Search the catalog

  1. Start on the TCC Libraries homepage
  2. Find TCC Library Catalog (box on left)
  3. Select "Ebooks"
  4. Type what you are searching for in the search box (for example: book title, author, topic keywords) and click Search 
  5. Use the filters on the left to narrow down your results

Access online

  1. After you have searched for and located an eBook in the library catalog, click on "Available Online" or the book title to open up the catalog record.
  2. Use the link(s) listed under View Online to access the eBook.

The library does not collect textbooks, however we may have a copy of your textbook if your instructor has placed one on reserve. Generally these can only be checked out for use in the library for a couple of hours. You can search our Course Reserves using the steps below. You can also stop by the library or chat with us online. We are always happy to check to see if we have a book available.

Search the catalog

  1. Start on the TCC Libraries homepage
  2. Find TCC Library Catalog (box on left)
  3. Select "Course Reserves"
  4. Type what you are searching for in the search box (for example: book title, course instructor name, course code).
  5. If the item is available, results will show where it is available at.
    • If the item is at more than one campus you will see "and other locations" - click to open the item record to view all campus library locations for the item.

Find in the library

Visit the library’s circulation desk to check out books that are part of the Reserves collection. Make sure you have your ID with you. You’ll need it to check out library materials.

In addition to our databases and books, the library provides access to a variety of other materials. If searching the TCC Library Catalog, you can use the All Collections search option and then use the Resource Type limit under Filter Your Results to find a particular type of material. (You can also use this to search for all books at the same time, regardless of format or location. Search the TCC Library Catalog using the All Collections option, then limit your results to Books under Resource Type.)   

dressesFor research on fashion & fashion merchandising-related topics, our databases, print books, eBooks, newspapers & magazines, and some of our streaming video collections may be particularly relevant. The library also has resources available to support professional development and finding information about fashion-related careers. Explore these additional resources listed in the box below.  

Recently Added & Coming Soon

Empresses of Seventh Avenue: World War II, New York City, and the birth of American fashion

Print Book

A NEW YORK TIMES MOST ANTICIPATED * "Reads like a work of fiction, but remarkably, it's all true" (Airmail) * In the tradition of The Barbizon and The Girls of Atomic City, fashion historian and journalist Nancy MacDonell chronicles the untold story of how the Nazi invasion of France gave rise to the American fashion industry. Calvin Klein. Ralph Lauren. Donna Karan. Halston. Marc Jacobs. Tom Ford. Michael Kors. Tory Burch. Today, American designers are some of the biggest names in fashion, yet before World War II, they almost always worked anonymously. The industry, then centered on Seventh Avenue in Manhattan, had always looked overseas for "inspiration"--a polite phrase for what was often blatant copying--because style, as all the world knew, came from Paris. But when the Nazis invaded France in 1940, the capital of fashion was cut off from the rest of the world. The story of the chaos and tragedy that followed has been told many times--but how it directly affected American fashion is largely unknown. Defying the naysayers, New York-based designers, retailers, editors, and photographers met the moment, turning out clothes that were perfectly suited to the American way of life: sophisticated, modern, comfortable, and affordable. By the end of the war, "the American Look" had been firmly established as a fresh, easy elegance that combined function with style. But none of it would have happened without the influence and ingenuity of a small group of women who have largely been lost to history. Empresses of Seventh Avenue will tell the story of how these extraordinary women put American fashion on the world stage and created the template for modern style--and how the nearly $500 billion American fashion industry, the largest in the world, could not have accrued its power and wealth without their farsightedness and determination.

Fabric for Fashion The Complete Guide

eBook

Aimed at fashion designers, Fabric for Fashion: The Complete Guide is unique in explaining the behaviour, properties and sustainability impacts of a wide range of natural and man-made fabrics. Design is determined by how fabrics work, move, feel and look. Increasingly and out of necessity, design is also led by how fabric choices affect our planet and its inhabitants. The most successful fashion designers are those who truly understand their materials, who match design skill with technical knowledge. This book offers guidance by providing a mix of practical information, including industry vocabulary, and a wealth of stunning visual examples showing how designers, both past and present, have worked with textiles. Highlights of this new edition include additional chapters on: - Sustainable fabrics and fashion - Smart fabrics - Product development - Biosynthetic fibres "This second edition of Fabric for Fashion offers refreshed information on sustainability and smart fabrics. Rather than tacking on a chapter to address these concerns, Hallett and Johnston address these topics appears in every chapter and subchapter, on subjects like fabrics' environmental impacts, for example, as well as notes on eco-friendly fabrics, how "smart" fabric translates into functional designs, the recyclability of individual fabrics, and more... A must for anyone who cares about the fate of fabrics and the goods they become, as well as the fate of our planet." - Booklist

The Fashion Book

Print Book

The iconic bestseller, showcasing more than 500 of fashion's greatest names from A-Z Phaidon's iconic global bestseller The Fashion Book takes a fresh look at the fashion world and the people who created and inspired it. Spanning almost 200 years, the entire fashion industry is represented: from designers to photographers, stylists, and retailers, as well as editors and creative directors. Marking significant changes on the fashion landscape, this edition features important new names who have fundamentally shaped the way we see fashion in recent years, including Virgil Abloh, Gosha Rubchinskiy, and Alessandro Michele, influential photographer Petra Collins, designer and contemporary icon Rihanna, and Leandra Medine, alongside fashion pioneers of the previous edition such as Coco Chanel, Issey Miyake, Kate Moss, Erdem, and Richard Avedon. Showcasing more than 500 of fashion's greatest icons in A-Z order, the book places early stars such as Karl Lagerfeld and Helmut Newton alongside today's most innovative designers and creatives, including Edward Enninful, Iris van Herpen, Stella McCartney, and cutting-edge brands such as Supreme. This bestselling classic remains a comprehensive and definitive view of the fashion industry today.

Fabric

Print Book

A magnificent work of original research that unravels history through textiles and cloth--how we make it, use it, and what it means to us. A New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice How is a handmade fabric helping save an ancient forest? Why is a famous fabric pattern from India best known by the name of a Scottish town? How is a Chinese dragon robe a diagram of the whole universe? What is the difference between how the Greek Fates and the Viking Norns used threads to tell our destiny? In Fabric, bestselling author Victoria Finlay spins us round the globe, weaving stories of our relationship with cloth and asking how and why people through the ages have made it, worn it, invented it, and made symbols out of it. And sometimes why they have fought for it. She beats the inner bark of trees into cloth in Papua New Guinea, fails to handspin cotton in Guatemala, visits tweed weavers at their homes in Harris, and has lessons in patchwork-making in Gee's Bend, Alabama - where in the 1930s, deprived of almost everything they owned, a community of women turned quilting into an art form. She began her research just after the deaths of both her parents --and entwined in the threads she found her personal story too. Fabric is not just a material history of our world, but Finlay's own journey through grief and recovery.

Additional Resources

  • Click on the tab for additional library resources.
  • To access library resources, use your TCC email and password if prompted to log in.

In addition to providing access to information, the library provides study space and other general resources. Refer to our Library 101 guide for more information on general resources available.  

Career & Professional Development - Databases

Career & Professional Development - eBooks / Print Books

These are just a few of the available titles. Search the library catalog to find more.

eBook Collections

Browse an eBook collection using the links below.
Refer to our databases listed by subject, under Electronic Books and Magazines, for all available collections.
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News & Magazines

These are just a few of the resources available. Refer to our databases listed by subject, under News and Controversial Issues or under Electronic Books and Magazines, for additional resources.
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Streaming Video - Databases

Refer to our databases listed by subject, under Streaming Video, for additional resources.
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