Incroyables et Merveilleuses, 1818, Merveilleuse, No. 33: Coeffure de l'Invention de M.r Guillaum (...). 1818

Editor: Here we have "Incroyables et Merveilleuses", dating back to 1818, featuring a Merveilleuse, No. 33, with the descriptive title: "Coeffure de l'Invention de M.r Guillaum...". It’s credited to Georges Jacques Gatine. I'm struck by the... stiffness, almost? She seems poised but very constrained in her fashion. What captures your attention when you look at this, particularly considering the context? Curator: Oh, the 'stiffness' you feel is exactly the tension of the time! This print, likely a watercolour illustration with ink and colored pencil, attempts to capture the ‘Merveilleuses’— these incredible women who dared to shed the constraints of pre-revolutionary garb but found themselves trapped in new ones. That towering headdress balanced precariously, the empire waist cinching instead of freeing… it's a poignant, almost comedic, visual cage, wouldn't you say? Editor: A comedic cage – I love that! I hadn’t considered that what appears to be high fashion might actually have been another form of restriction. The puffed sleeves almost look… deflated somehow. Is that intentional, perhaps, to underscore the irony? Curator: Perhaps. Or perhaps the print, like all memories, isn't quite perfect. Imperfection allows feeling, doesn't it? These "Incroyables et Merveilleuses" series weren’t necessarily striving for photographic realism, but attempting to bottle a moment in time. Are we so different today with our 'filtered' versions of self-presentation? The struggle remains, eh? Editor: Absolutely! This has completely changed my view. I went from seeing just a historical fashion plate to recognizing a timeless commentary on self-expression. Curator: Wonderful! Isn’t it funny how art, even in its most seemingly superficial forms, like a fashion plate, can hold a mirror to ourselves, across centuries? We are all walking fashion plates, aren't we?