The Victoria and Albert Museum, which is (in my opinion) the most fabulous museum in the world, has FINALLY gotten around to putting up a respectable image collection on their webpage. Unfortunately there isn’t a browse feature, but if you do a keyword search for “dress,” “gown,” “petticoat,” etc. you can see some beautiful costumes (make sure to click on the images for high-resolution images!) — including one of my favorites, this 1879-1881 afternoon ensemble. Yummy yummy!