['Journal des Dames et des Modes: the Fashion Illustrators', 'Journal des Dames et des Modes: Fashion News'] 1913

Curator: This watercolor illustration, “Journal des Dames et des Modes: Fashion News” from 1913 presents two figures in conversation, one seated and the other standing. The rendering offers an interesting visual encounter. What is your immediate impression? Editor: I'm drawn to the textures, suggested as they are. The polka dots on the seated woman’s dress, the checked pattern of the girl’s dress; the treatment of these ordinary, mass-produced patterns in the service of high fashion is fascinating. The paper, the pen strokes – it all feels quite tangible, doesn’t it? Curator: Absolutely. Beyond the visible rendering, let’s examine how this fashion plate participated in constructing a cultural ideal, or, in other words, what intersectional issues are we dealing with here? It clearly promotes a specific image of women's fashion in early 20th century Paris but its message reflects power structures inherent in society. This creates a rather class-specific fantasy. Editor: Right, the materials reflect this, of course. The original publication process allowed for mass distribution of aspirational imagery, playing on both accessibility and exclusivity. The relatively simple pen and watercolor strokes could be replicated and consumed widely. How fascinating to explore the material realities of desire and dissemination. Curator: And that extends beyond simple representation. What does it mean to display and perform elite feminity at the nexus of colonial powers? The fashion is one dimension of material display of cultural identity but the bodies, the activities suggested here indicate ways women can act as economic agents that mirror a form of societal authority. Editor: The layering here really works. This illustration utilizes a printmaking background which could produce copies on paper as a method for consumption for a larger group to access information about social life. It allowed for the visualization and understanding of cultural norms. I see labor implicit within this print. The artist made use of pen strokes and watercolor washes, making design decisions, laboring at their table, allowing viewers of the illustration an understanding of these fashionable forms that create our social reality. Curator: Thank you. Reflecting on this piece and fashion illustration in general really forces a reconsideration about social forces at play that shape norms surrounding the construction and visual representation of feminine identities in turn of the century Paris. Editor: I concur; it provides insight on consumer society that would encourage an investment into oneself while taking advantage of the latest trends and cultural capital.