First: my pedigree. Professional costume technician, giant history nerd, killer researcher. (literally, I have an MA in American Studies, aka Socio/Historic Research Time and an MFA in Costume Production)
So here’s the thing: this is the Oregon Shakes rental site. They’re a HUGE company, and they work across a mess and a half of shows and time periods and directors and designers, and yeah. Like, 11+ shows in a season huge.
While this is a great place to start with a general overview of things, you have to remember that a lot of this is going to be created with a theatrical bent-a means to an end design that may or may not be historically accurate. A costume designer who isn’t as big a nerd as I am has no reason to stay 100% accurate to what was actually worn in Elizabethan England or the 1830s. A lot of times, theatrical things are made to look “acceptable” to the modern eye within their designed period- in Elizabethan England, we rarely get to put codpieces on actors because modern folks are distracted by them, and holy cow, but the 1830s hair/sleeve combos are hilarious to people who don’t stare at them regularly. (and okay, they’re still funny to me too) Actors trying to be Taken Very Seriously don’t usually like having on an outfit that makes people laugh at their first entrance.
For example, I randomly clicked through the OSF “renaissance corsets” and yes, a fair number of them are reasonably accurate for around 1550-1650, BUT there are a mess of weridos in there too, some of which are more like the 1770s, and a few that seem to be a sort of fantastic victorian hybrid steampunk thing?
So sure, start there with OSF, but there’s more research to be done in conjunction. SO MUCH MORE.
(and I’m always happy to be used as a source. I’m in the middle of developing an hourlong class on “what art you can trust” as costume references for the medieval-elizabethan periods)
