No. 51 from La Mode Illustrée 1869

This fashion plate, No. 51 from La Mode Illustrée, was created by Adèle-Anaïs Toudouze, and it represents the fashion of the day. As a print, the artwork shows a very direct relationship to production. Prints are designed for wide distribution; they are inherently commercial. In this case, the image was part of a fashion magazine, which was made possible by industrialization. The fabrics shown, the elaborate trimmings – all were brought to consumers through a complex global system of resource extraction, manufacturing, and trade. Consider all the labor involved in the creation of those gowns, from the cultivation of cotton or silk to the skilled labor of the seamstresses. Here, we have something that looks like an innocent piece of ephemera, yet it encodes all the realities of 19th century capitalism. Looking at this print, we might recall William Morris’s famous critique of what he called "sham art" – objects produced solely for profit. Plates like this one prompt us to consider the social relations embedded in all visual culture.