Art - Goût - Beauté, Feuillets de l' élégance féminine, Juin 1932, No. 142, 12e Année, p. 18 1932

Editor: Here we have "Art - Goût - Beauté, Feuillets de l'élégance féminine, Juin 1932." It's a mixed media print by H. Rouit, showcasing women's fashion. I’m immediately drawn to the illustration style – it’s so clean and stylized, with these elongated figures and geometric patterns. What story do you think this image tells? Curator: This print isn't just about fashion, it’s a document of its time. The Art Deco style speaks to the shifting roles of women in the 1930s – a desire for modernity, freedom, and a break from Victorian constraints. We see women claiming space, not confined by the male gaze, even seemingly dictating it. Who do you think the woman walking the dog represents? Editor: I hadn't thought about it that way! The woman with the dog feels central somehow. Is it too much to say it feels like an advertisement directed specifically at the *new* woman? Curator: Precisely. The print reflects and participates in constructing that ideal of the 'new woman.' What do you notice about how the female figures are positioned relative to the male figure? Editor: He's there, but off to the side, almost an afterthought. And they’re all wearing these elegant, yet practical dresses. It speaks to female agency. Curator: Yes, and think about the economic context: This was during the Great Depression, and even luxury fashion had to adapt to new realities and still sell a lifestyle to which people aspired. Where do you imagine the women are going, in your opinion? Editor: With the dog and the automobile, perhaps off for a country adventure – leisure, affluence, but perhaps a constrained affluence that suits the new austere conditions. Curator: Right, they might be going somewhere – but where and how they are doing it signals they have arrived. Thinking about it from today’s lens, how has advertising evolved, or has it really at all? Editor: I think you’ve helped me to appreciate how even something as seemingly light as a fashion print can reveal so much about gender roles and economic conditions of its time. Curator: And how visual culture always reflects the societal currents it navigates. Looking at it again has me contemplating where current fashion magazines intersect or depart with these trends from nearly a century prior.