Revue de la Mode, Gazette de la Famille, dimanche 16 septembre 1883, 12e annee, No. 611: Toilettes de M.me Bazin (...) 1883

This print, made by P. Deferneville in France in 1883, comes from the fashion magazine Revue de la Mode. These magazines were aimed at upper and middle-class women. This image presents us with a question: is it simply a record of fashionable dress or is it also a visual statement about the social roles of women? The image promotes an ideal of feminine beauty that was closely tied to social status. We see the careful attention to detail in the clothing, hairstyles, and accessories. They speak to the economic privilege required to acquire and maintain such garments. The poses and expressions of the models also reflect a certain degree of social restraint. Historians use a wide variety of resources, including periodicals, newspapers, and personal papers. They help us to understand these images as more than just pretty pictures. They show us how they participated in the construction of social identities in their own time.