Journal des Luxus und der Moden 1790, Band V, T.14 1790

Curator: So much to unpack here! This delightful fashion plate comes to us from 1790, titled "Journal des Luxus und der Moden," or "Journal of Luxury and Fashion," created by Friedrich Justin Bertuch. Editor: My goodness, what a confection of pinks and whites. She looks like she’s about to either star in a very chic fairytale, or maybe rob a bank? The hat is…unexpected. Curator: Well, "Journal des Luxus und der Moden" wasn't just about displaying clothes, it also acted as a reflector of the period's social hierarchies and aesthetic ideals. Think about the restricted mobility dictated by the skirt, signaling elite status through impracticality, not to mention the overt visual cues of wealth in embellishment. This fashion plate provides a lens into gendered expectations of late 18th-century Europe. Editor: True, but beyond the class markers and assigned roles, look at the confidence in her gaze. I wonder what that woman *really* felt, trapped inside that tower of fabric and social constraint? I bet she had a secret rebellious streak, something she’d only let out when nobody was watching, perhaps scribbling furiously in a journal with a feathered quill! Curator: Exactly! And looking closer we see how Bertuch used watercolor, coloured pencil, and printmaking to create the textures we see. Layering of textures, delicate line work; notice how it creates depth? Fashion was, then as now, another means of artistic expression and ingenuity, and the materiality here speaks volumes. Editor: You are so right! The slightly faded colors have this delicate patina now, almost like witnessing a ghost from high society, a little wave from the past still vibrant on the page. I find myself filled with a deep respect for all of those nameless women navigating difficult constraints. Curator: That whisper of lives, captured on a page...precisely the power of art history to connect us, I think. Editor: Makes you want to track down all her contemporaries and raise a glass to their style, grace, and quiet acts of rebellion. Cheers to fashion that challenges the world, one powdered wig and pink gown at a time.