Journal des Demoiselles, 1 Avril 1873, No. 3886 1873

This is a print from the Journal des Demoiselles, published in Paris in 1873. The journal operated as a powerful force in shaping and disseminating ideals of femininity, aspiration, and style. Fashion plates like this one presented carefully posed figures attired in the latest modes. The image creates meaning through visual codes. Note the elaborate dresses, the careful attention to detail, the controlled expressions, the setting: these visual elements construct an image of bourgeois respectability. The rise of fashion magazines coincided with a period of rapid industrialization, urbanization, and the growth of consumer culture. Journals such as this one offered a vision of domesticity, social grace, and material consumption that reflected the values and aspirations of the rising middle classes. By studying such images in relation to the socio-economic context we gain a more nuanced understanding of the cultural landscape of nineteenth-century France.