Revue de la Mode, Gazette de la Famille, 1879, 8e année, No. 417: Toilettes de Mme Delaunoy (...) 1879

A. Chaillot created this print titled ‘Revue de la Mode, Gazette de la Famille’ in 1879. It's a lithograph, a printmaking process using a flat stone or metal plate on which the image areas are worked using a greasy substance so that the ink will adhere to them, while the non-image areas are made ink-repellent. The dresses depicted here are complex feats of dressmaking. Observe how the material, likely silk or a similar fine fabric, falls into intricate folds and layers, creating volume and texture. Note the rows of ruffles, the tailored bodices, and the elaborate trimmings of lace and fringe. These details demanded specialized skills, and each gown would have taken many hours to produce. Fashion plates like this one were not just about aesthetics. They represented the height of Parisian style, yes, but also the aspirations of a rising middle class with more and more disposable income. They also belie the labour-intensive industry that was the fashion world at the time. This print offers a glimpse into the social and economic dynamics of the late 19th century, where fashion was both an art form and a commodity shaped by labor, politics, and consumption.