We're not quite sure why we've never done a Collections Crossover on fashion before. We regularly help out publishers with images for fashion books and supply pictures to museums such as the V&A and Fashion & Textile Museum for their exhibitions. We've opened our archives to the team at Ralph Lauren who've rummaged in it for inspiration, and we've licensed pictures for clothing to companies including Joanie and J. W. Anderson. The problem is it's one of those BIG subjects, where we have loads of material, so it's tricky to summarise in the space of a brief email newsletter. But, this week, we're going to give it a whirl (or should that be a twirl?) as we strut down the catwalk of all things stylish and sartorial.

Our own collection is particularly good for historic costume. We've box loads of fashion plates from the 18th century onwards, and have some superb rare volumes brimming with exquisite illustrations of costume over the centuries including Dress & Habits of the People of England by J. Strutt, 1842, Münchener Bilderbogen - Munich: K. Braun & F. Schneider, 1854 and Costumes Historiques De La France - Publisher: Ch. De Lamotte Libraire-Editeur (1860).

We also hold numerous women's magazines from various eras, all of which report on fashions of the day, whether it's crinolines in The Queen magazine during the 1860s, hobble skirts in pre-WWI issues of Femina, or some sharp tailoring in 1930s copies of Vogue. We even have a handful of brilliant men's fashion magazines, aimed at the 1930s man-about-town. Remember we have a run of Punch too, which is always good value if you want a cartoon that pokes fun at the latest trends. Also of note are our original volumes of Gazette du Bon Ton and Art, Gout, Beauté, packed with those gorgeous colour-saturated pochoir prints. Here's a tiny taster of the thousands we have.

Moving on, but staying on the subject of magazines, the ILN archive is a really brilliant resource for all aspects of fashion history. Titles like The Sphere, The Sketch and The Tatler ran fashion reports every week, and often devoted special issues to spring, summer or autumn fashions. It's the place to go to find examples of the work of high fashion couturiers like Chanel, Schiaparelli, Jean Patou and Edward Molyneux, but also for news reports on the latest style sensations whether it was shocking cycling fashions, beach pyjamas, rational dress or Oxford bags. Fashion plates by Gordon Conway capture the essence of the sleek, art deco aesthetic, while Tatler covers from the 1960s often feature well-known models wearing the latest hip threads.

The photographic archives of Sandra Lousada and Nancy Sandys Walker offer some stunning fashion editorial work done for magazines ranging from Harper's Bazaar in the 1940s to Petticoat in the 1960s, while reportage photographers like Roger Mayne, Shirley Baker or Robin Dale record examples of various style 'tribes'. Mayne captured Teddy Boys on the streets of North Kensington and beatniks at jazz festivals; we love Robin Dale's photographs of die-hard Teddy Boys in 1970s North East, and Boot Boys in Middlesbrough. Shirley Baker took some brilliant pictures of punks and goths in Stockport and Camden, while Jon Santa Cruz's portraits of snappily-dressed cool cats at a mod convention on the Isle of Wight in 1998 remind us that classic style never really goes away.

We also represent several archives of fashion designers. Victor Stiebel, one of the leading lights of fashion from the late 1920s to the 1950s, was a favourite of Princess Margaret. We have a collection of his fashion illustrations done for the theatre and clients (including the Princess) during those years. We also represent a substantial collection from royal dressmaker, Hardy Amies, mainly of designs made for Queen Elizabeth II. The Amies collection also covers some Norman Hartnell material including his iconic design for the Queen's coronation gown. Finally, we wanted to highlight a couple of smaller, niche collections such as that of Dora Sprinzel, a fashion illustrator who went to the Paris salons to draw designs which would then be replicated by London department stores. Her neat little illustrations rather make us yearn to return to the smart, chic 1930s. Also worth mentioning are the charming textile designs of Tanya Atkinson, including a number of lovely examples done for square scarves, an accessory which seems to be having something of a renaissance right now.

Before we go, if you're looking for fashion on film, may we remind you briefly of our 3 million + film images. But perhaps we should save this for a future newletter!

We hope our weekly updates are useful and serve as a memory jogger for the rich and varied content we have available here at Mary Evans Picture Library. Do get in touch with us if you'd like to discuss a project and we'll be happy to help. You can reach us either by emailing pictures@maryevans.com or calling 020 8318 0034.