Robe de visite en satin et chiffon blanc 1919

This fashion plate, "Robe de visite en satin et chiffon blanc," was made in 1919 by an anonymous artist, using a delicate combination of ink and watercolour. I love how the artist uses a minimal palette to suggest so much – the sheen of satin, the softness of chiffon, and the overall elegance of the era. The flat washes of color create a sense of depth and form, while the thin, dark lines define the shapes and details of the dress. Look closely at the rose on the woman's arm. It’s just a tiny dab of red and green, but it adds a pop of color and visual interest to the composition. It reminds me a bit of the way Henri Matisse used color and line in his drawings and prints, with a similar sense of spontaneity and freedom. Of course, fashion illustration is a completely different genre to modernism, but its fascinating to see how it embraces ambiguity. It’s up to us to fill in the gaps and imagine the rest.