Reference Library
The Reference Library documents the sources that inform Larasé's research into Southeast Asian dress, textiles, and material culture.
Our research draws from both period sources and modern scholarship. We study these materials alongside surviving garments, photographs, museum collections, and archival records to understand how garments were constructed, worn, represented, and understood within their historical context.
The library is an evolving record of the references consulted throughout our research and reconstruction process.
Primary Sources
Our primary source collection includes sewing publications dating from the 1930s through the 1960s.
Produced during the periods in which many of the garments we study were made and worn, these materials provide valuable evidence of period construction, silhouettes, proportions, terminology, styling, and methods of dress.
We study them as historical documents, examining both their visual and technical information and the context in which they were produced.
Secondary Sources
Our secondary source collection includes modern books and publications relating to Southeast Asian dress, textiles, fashion history, and material culture.
These sources provide historical context, analysis, and scholarly interpretation. We use them alongside primary materials to understand individual garments within their broader cultural and historical context.
Source Notes
Where possible, each reference is linked to a reliable record or original source, including museum collections, university libraries, archives, publishers, and established research repositories.
References are presented as part of the research record behind Larasé. They are not intended as a comprehensive bibliography of Southeast Asian dress, but as a selection of sources that have contributed to our research and reconstruction work.
The library will continue to develop as our research expands.