Journal des Dames et des Modes, Costume Parisien, 24 janvier 1799, An 7 (86) : Toque de Velours (...) 1799

Curator: This drawing, housed here at the Rijksmuseum, is a fashion plate titled "Journal des Dames et des Modes, Costume Parisien, 24 janvier 1799, An 7 (86) : Toque de Velours (...)" by Pierre Charles Baquoy. It’s from 1799, a time when clothing production and display were intrinsically tied to social commentary. Editor: Ah, she looks a bit like she's waiting for her tea party to start, doesn't she? All refined and ethereal in that high-waisted dress. Sort of floating. I imagine she smells faintly of lavender and disillusionment. Curator: Disillusionment, perhaps stemming from the realities of production. Fashion plates like this romanticized the consumption of textiles. The materials, primarily inks on paper, tell a tale of evolving print technologies. Each line and carefully applied color demonstrates how print media actively shaped social hierarchies through dissemination of dress codes. Editor: I love how simple and graceful the silhouette is; almost Grecian. The touch of red is such a statement though, like a shout against the white fabric. But imagine being corseted beneath all that flowiness... there's a tension in it, isn't there? Between the freedom of the design and constraints in actually wearing it. Curator: Precisely! The print also reveals that interplay. The soft aquatint is achieved through laborious etching methods. It reveals how labor invested in replicating that seemingly simple Neoclassical aesthetic was intensive. This plate, replicated, commodified, served as a consumable token within that fashion system. Editor: Knowing the effort put in kind of amplifies her serenity though, doesn't it? Maybe she *earned* that little cup of tea, darn it! In that small hand... almost offering a quiet defiance against those grinding wheels of production... it's just nice to have something beautiful sometimes. Curator: Exactly. Beauty itself, displayed by modes of reproduction, plays a function in material and social discourse. Thank you for expanding our contemplation! Editor: The pleasure was all mine.