The collection of the Berlin publishers Franz and Frieda von Lipperheide, comprising more than 600 paintings, miniatures and reliefs, is part of an extensive and unique compendium of sources depicting the various forms of fashion, traditional costume and dress, referencing their specifics to social class, region and gender. As visual evidence of European and non-European dress fashions from around 1430 to 1900, the pieces in the collection alternate between artistic designs and documentary evidence. They were first made accessible to the public in 1906 as part of the Lipperheide Costume Library, donated to the Berlin Museum of Decorative Arts by Franz and Frieda von Lipperheide. Since 1934, however, they have been without a residence, and were later divided up and deposited. The present study is the first complete analysis of the collection, looking at its origin and history, its context as a repository of knowledge for the spouses’ publishing activities, its original scope, its strategy and the conception of sources. Furthermore, it highlights the original scope of the private collection, which comprised textiles, pictorial evidence, text sources and secondary literature. In the context of the 19th century, informed by museum foundations and a rebirth of the arts and crafts, the Lipperheide collection of paintings represents a methodological approach of an early costume historiography.