Journal des Dames et des Modes, Costumes Parisiens, 15 juillet 1831, (2903): Bonnet de blond (...) 1831

August Delvaux created this print titled, ‘Journal des Dames et des Modes, Costumes Parisiens,’ in 1831 using etching. This print comes from a journal for upper-class women, and represents the restrictive and often-changing clothing norms of the 1830s. Published in France, the print depicts two women in lavish dresses. Fashion journals like this played a significant role in dictating social norms and consumer behavior. They helped shape ideals of femininity and beauty. The highly detailed rendering of fabrics, bonnets, and hairstyles in this print served as a means to communicate the latest trends and material aspirations to its elite readership. This imagery also served an economic function in stimulating the fashion industry. Such imagery encouraged the consumption of luxury goods and reinforcing social hierarchies through dress. By examining sources like fashion plates, historians can understand the intertwined relationships between art, commerce, and social identity in nineteenth-century France.