Adding PAPD in again right off the bat - it's too universally handy in design research to not mention. A good first stop in any design endeavor!
Paid for by K-State Libraries
A comprehensive guide to the journal literature on performing arts–drama, theater, dance, film, television, and more–from both scholarly and popular publications. Multidisciplinary fields include film, drama, dance, stagecraft, broadcast arts, circus performance, comedy, storytelling, and more.
If you're looking for images, either as examples to draw upon for an architectural period or as inspiration for your own abstract costume design, Artstor is absolutely critical for design oriented theatre research.
Publication Dates Covered: Indexing 1982 - present; abstracts 1994 - present; select full text 1997 - present Paid for by the State Library of Kansas
Addresses “art” in the broadest sense including topics relevant to archaeology, architecture, art history, ceramics, fashion design, graphic arts, interior design, landscape architecture, metalsmithing, photography, sculpture, textiles and more. Includes content from international arts journals, periodicals, yearbooks, and museum bulletins.
Paid for by K-State Libraries
World's Global Style Network (WGSN) is the world’s leading fashion and style forecaster, providing daily access to images, graphics, forecasting, trend and market analysis, business resources, research on products, and branding. Broad topics covered include fashion, interiors and beauty. WGSN content may be printed but not downloaded.
Paid for by K-State Libraries
Formerly Grove Art Online, this is the definitive encyclopedia for the arts and design. This portal to Oxford art reference products includes cross-referenced articles and links to art images in galleries and museums. Articles are scholarly and include bibliographic references. This database contains Grove Art Online (the entire text of The Dictionary of Art), The Oxford Companion to Western Art, the Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, and The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms, and is continually updated.