Robe soir, corsage en faille, jupe tulle noir garnie feuilles appliqués en faille. 1939

This fashion sketch was made by Jean Dessès, probably around 1939, with pencil and gouache on paper. The palette is restrained: mostly blacks and greys, with pale skin tones and a touch of red on the lips. The texture of the tulle skirt is evoked with fine parallel lines, and then punctuated with the solid black ‘feuilles appliqués en faille’ that the annotation describes – leaves applied in faille. These marks are like dark teardrops, each slightly different, giving the skirt a lively, almost animated quality. There is a real tension between the geometric and the organic here, with the severe vertical lines of the skirt juxtaposed against the natural forms of the leaves and flowers. The sketch reminds me a bit of the drawings of Christian Bérard, with its elegant lines and slightly melancholic mood. It’s a reminder that art can be found in the most unexpected places, and that even a fashion sketch can be a work of beauty in its own right. There is an ambiguity to the image that allows for multiple interpretations, it's suggestive rather than prescriptive in its message.