Les Douze Mois de l'Année: Brumaire 1919

Marthe Romme made this costume design, called Brumaire, as part of a series representing the months of the year. Look at the way those lines create the illusion of a folding, billowing dress, all curves and implied motion, kind of like a cartoon! I can only imagine Romme playing around with how to make the image dynamic. It’s all in ink and gouache—it’s not really about blending but more about laying down flat areas of colour and line. I love how the black and grey sort of set the stage, like in a theatre, framing the figure without overpowering it. It's all about line and color. It reminds me of Erté, the way they both create these stylized figures that are just so full of… well, style! I can see them chatting away and exchanging notes. The piece is so confident, and makes me want to pick up a pen and start experimenting with fashion, too. That’s the thing about art—it's an endless conversation, each artist riffing off what came before, trying their own thing, and inspiring the next generation.