For Every Day of the Year

If human beings had genuine courage, they'd wear their costumes every day of the year, not just on Halloween.
~ Doug Coupland

The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art has a terrific site. Check out the collection highlights. Here are a couple from that collection:
Court Dress, ca. 1750
British

Dress, Evening, 1969–1970
Yves Saint Laurent, Paris
Made of silk and bird-of-paradise feathers

Venice Carnival, Italy, 1994
From "Venice: More Than a Dream," February 1995, National Geographic magazine
Photograph by Sam Abell

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell: Boots for Reading William Blake
By Catherine Heard

By Roger Baranowski

Art Gallery Costumes
By Windell H. Oskay

The Evil Mad Scientist site shows you how a group can dress as a modern art exhibit. They offer some good alternative ideas, such as "Have everyone dress up with a blank canvas and carry colored ink squirt guns. You can all go as Jackson Pollock's studio."

Links:
~ Venetian Carnival costumes blow me away. Here are some more photos of them.
~ Want to see some amazing (expensive) costumes that are available for rental?
~ Trying to figure out what someone would have worn during a certain time period? Check out the Costume Gallery Research Library.