Fashion plates collection

Raymond Crompton Rhodes donated his prized collection of over 400 fashion plates to Birmingham Libraries and it now forms part of the Library of Birmingham's Early and Fine Printing Collection.

With the earliest plate dated at 1771, this unique collection traces over 125 years of changing tastes and styles in European clothing design and offers a rich source of information to students of fashion, textiles and costume.

Sadly, library records do not give any further information as to the origins of Crompton Rhodes' extensive fashion plate collection. It is imagined that his great passion for the arts and theatre lead to an interest in the history of British and French costume design.