Find Sources in Library Databases

You may search directly in individual databases for information or use the One Search to look for sources in all library databases at once. 

If you are struggling to find words that work, I suggest starting with Academic Search Complete and looking for useful keywords and subject terms.

Library Databases & One Search:

Google Scholar allows you to search the web for peer-reviewed article and book citations. You can use these citations to track down the items at Green River or request them by Interlibrary Loan.

Strategies:

• Use keywords to find relevant articles.
• Identify relevant subject terms and use them to search for additional articles. Try the following:
• Use One Search and database limiters to select source types. For scholarly articles, select peer reviewed journals in the One Search.

Subject Terms:

Try these subject terms too (change Any Field (on the left) to Subject at Advanced Search or use Subject Terms in the left menu of a basic search):

• Clothing and dress--Social aspects.
• Fashion--Social aspects.
• Women's clothing--History.
• Fashion design.
• Fashion designers.
• Fashion--History--20th century.
• Clothing and dress -- Sex differences -- United States.
• Clothing and dress -- Social aspects -- United States.
• Fashion -- Social aspects -- United States.
• Sex role -- United States -- History -- 20th century.
• Fashion -- Social aspects -- United States -- 19th century.
• Fashion -- Social aspects -- United States -- 20th century.
• Clothing and dress -- United States.

To find scholarly peer reviewed sources, try a One Search across all library databases. Limit to Peer Reviewed Journals from the menu on the left after you search. 

• Check the box: Include not full text in search
• Note: Individual databases above will search more accurately within their own content and provide more useful limiters.

Sample Journals in Library Databases:

Sample Searches:

Newspapers in ProQuest:

This is a search of fashion OR dress OR clothing AND grunge, and it is limited to newspapers from 1990 - 1999.

Scholarly Analysis in the library One Search:

Step 1: Search

This is a search of men OR masculin* (masculine or masculinity) AND cloth* OR attire OR style OR dress OR fashion AND 1960s OR nineteen sixties

Step 2: Limit to Scholarship

At the results list, filter for Peer Reviewed Journal Articles only to find scholarly studies.

Step 3: Review

What looks relevant? Useful? Interesting? Click on titles to learn more. Use Subject Headings to find other relevant sources.

A second example of scholarship. 

This search focused on the context of war rather than a specific decade. 

This search of women AND war AND attire OR dress OR cloth* OR fashion returned 1,129 peer reviewed journal articles, including this one: 

Introduction:

United States history of the 1930s and 40s is framed by the Great Depression and World War II. With the Wall Street crash of 1929, many Americans were left poor and unemployed. The reality of a depressed economy affected everyone, from those families who lost jobs to those who lost entire fortunes. With rising tensions in Europe and extensive drought impacting Midwestern farms, the social dynamics of the 1930s often center on the massive unemployment and economic decline experienced by millions of Americans.

However, there are some scholars and historians who assert that the historical narrative tends to revolve around the lives of men (Dubois and Dumenil 537). The experiences and social history of men have shaped the public consciousness of the 1930s and 1940s culture. According to Dubois and Dumenil social instability felt during the Great Depression caused a cultural shift, with security and reassurance being sought in the domestic sphere (537). Women as caregivers became the American cultural archetype of femininity.

Scholarship VS Magazine & Newspaper Articles

Information serves different purposes and is written for different audiences. 

Newspaper & Magazine Articles

• Newspapers and magazines are written for the interested general public.
• They cover news, culture, and all things in our world, from fashion to race to politics.
• These sources are accessible, with language and content that is understandable.
• The downside is that newspaper and magazine articles tend not to go into a topic in much depth and may not offer a lot of content.

Scholarly Articles

• Scholarly articles refers to original research studies, in-depth analysis, and literature reviews.
• They are written for academics and professionals and they further our knowledge in a field.
• Scholarship is informative, sophisticated and in-depth, and uses specialized terminology of that field of study. 
• The downside is that scholarship can be very narrow in scope, which may make it less relevant, and it can be difficult to understand. That said, you can look for useful information and ideas to apply to your own discussion.

Compare two articles on 1960s fashions and norms:

Magazine Article

Abstract:

His signature pieces are staples of modern, elegant wardrobes, but when he began his career more than 40 years ago, Yves Saint Laurent rocked the fashion establishment. Rawsthorn reports on the man who changed the way women dress.

Scholarly Article: 

Abstract:

In 1971 a woman writing in the Iowa City feminist journal described her decision to cut her hair as the definitive experience of women's liberation. Previously, her hair grew down to her waist, and thinking of cutting it made her stomach contract in terror. After she cut it extremely short, however, she discovered a newfound self-confidence and independence. Cutting one's hair was just one example of how some feminists in the 1960s and 1970s rejected traditional standards of feminine beauty as oppressive and objectifying of women. Debates over the meaning of particular styles of gender presentation -- among the media and "fashion feminists," among women's liberationists and lesbian feminists, among middle-class and working-class feminists and women of color, and among antifeminist lobbyists against the ERA -- illustrate how the politics of gender presentation, for both its advocates and its dissenters, implicated deeper questions about femininity and womanhood in the context of feminist activism of the 1960s and 1970s.