Journal des Dames et des Modes, Costumes Parisiens, 1914, No. 165 : Robe à danser (...) 1914

This fashion plate of a dancing dress "Robe à danser pour une jeune personne de 16 à 18 ans" was made by Gerda Wegener in 1914, likely as an etching with pochoir. I love how Wegener deploys a limited palette of pinks, reds, greens and yellows which feel both playful and elegant. The process itself seems to be about a kind of controlled freedom, or maybe a dance in itself. Look at the way the red cape flows around the figure, it’s captured in such a way as to emphasize movement. The texture of the paper gives the image a soft, almost dreamlike quality. The thinness of the lines and the transparency of the colors create a sense of lightness, as if the dress itself is floating on air. I’m struck by how this relates to the artist’s wider practice, particularly her portraits, where she often explored themes of identity and transformation through a similar lens of ambiguity. This piece reminds me of the work of Erté, another artist who embraced the decorative arts as a form of self-expression. Art, after all, is an ongoing exchange of ideas and forms.