Journal des Dames et des Modes, Costume Parisien, 5 septembre 1813, (1337): Coeffure en fichu (...) 1813

Editor: This is "Journal des Dames et des Modes, Costume Parisien," an engraving by Pierre Charles Baquoy from 1813. It's a fashion plate, and what strikes me most is its understated elegance. What catches your eye about this image? Curator: The averted gaze, undoubtedly. She's present, but also retreating, self-possessed yet inviting us to observe. The whole print feels poised between intimacy and the impersonal gaze of the fashion industry. Notice how Baquoy uses line—the delicate tracery suggesting lace, the assertive strokes defining the corset. How much of that corset is for her, how much for show, I wonder? Editor: That’s a great point. I hadn't really thought about the ambivalence. The title points to specific garments, so what’s the story *behind* this supposed practicality? Curator: Well, these "journals" were never truly about function, were they? They are about aspiration, defining oneself through careful selection of…artifice! To create oneself, bit by bit. And think, too, of the printmaking process – layers of deliberate construction. Much like dressing oneself at that time, one careful layer at a time. Even the ink has its story to tell! Editor: It sounds like Baquoy captured a sort of contradiction here. Do you think people saw that at the time, or just the fashion? Curator: Probably a little of both. It's precisely this tension—the visible and the concealed, the public and the private—that makes it compelling to me even now. Editor: I love that--artifice, not artlessness. Curator: Exactly! An important reminder to all those captivated by ‘natural’ beauty!