Le Moniteur de la Mode, 1852, No. 332 : Modes d'Alexandrin (...) 1852

Curator: Let’s turn our attention to a lithograph entitled "Le Moniteur de la Mode, 1852, No. 332," created in 1852. The profile listed is M. Gervais. Editor: It strikes me immediately as being a very performative piece. Look at the layered dresses; they visually shout status and wealth. There's a structural tension between the flat background and the meticulous detail given to the clothing. Curator: Yes, this image is replete with period symbolism. These fashion plates not only depict current styles but also project ideals. The mother, flanked by her children, is a figure of domestic influence and refined taste. Her clothing and those of her children signal prosperity but also convey virtue. Editor: What about the repeated frills, and ruffles? It creates such strong lines of horizontality. Even with the delicate colors and flowing fabrics, there's this rigid organization to it. How are we to read it? Curator: The rows upon rows symbolize order within a society of increasing excess and change. The clothing is both a barrier and a marker of identity within social circles; there's an inherent psychological weight in these signifiers of affluence. The careful attention to each detail becomes an affirmation of status and control in a time of enormous change. Editor: But it also seems deliberately artificial. Everything from their posture to the light seems curated, constructed. Consider that each of them hold a static, idealized pose that freezes them in time and removes from the picture their naturalness. Curator: Fashion itself has always been such a tool of transformation and image cultivation, as something more ephemeral it could indicate that the moment itself should not be regarded too seriously. As such, in the way that the layers of lace might offer different significations as the work is understood on a long term historical scale. Editor: An interesting angle. The lithograph certainly gives much food for visual and historical reflection. Curator: Indeed, and demonstrates how even fashion serves as both mirror and a carefully constructed portrait of its age.