Très Parisien, 1923, No 10: 13.- L'ATTENTE. - Ensemble ravissant, pour une robe... 1923

Curator: Oh, I'm quite taken by the immediate intimacy of this watercolor illustration. Editor: Agreed. Something so stylishly understated, right? Let me introduce you to "Très Parisien, 1923, No 10: 13. - L'ATTENTE. - Ensemble ravissant, pour une robe..." It comes to us from an anonymous hand and resides here at the Rijksmuseum. Immediately, it speaks of waiting, of fashion as ritual, a social tableau, maybe before the music starts? Curator: Exactly! I love that you picked up on the stillness; "L'Attente" - The Waiting. The two figures... they embody such different postures. The one draped head-to-toe in fur seems almost imprisoned, a gilded cage. But look closer at that figure. Editor: She’s self-possessed but aloof, turning away from the viewer – her gaze, unreadable. And her elaborate fur feels less like a protective layer and more like armour. Meanwhile, the second figure's pose...hands on her hips like she owns the world... Curator: Yes, she is striking. Almost brazen, don't you think? The Art Nouveau swirls in her dress mimic freedom, lightness, like energy just radiating outward. There's such a dynamic play between entrapment and liberation. It makes me wonder what the women are waiting *for*. Editor: The fact that it’s watercolor almost deepens the mystery, it hints at fleeting beauty and transience. And that neutral backdrop! It's genius. It allows the feminine color palette to bloom without constraint, heightening the contrast between the heavy fur and free-flowing fabric. So, what do we make of this dance between constraint and liberation, framed by anticipation? Curator: Maybe it's less about one grand moment of liberation and more about an internal shift, wouldn’t you say? The fur-clad woman doesn’t break free, but she *chooses* her stillness, finding power within it. While the other doesn’t conquer the world but simply understands how to wait, but being ready to spring into action at the right moment. The real question this "Attente" poses to us, perhaps, is not *what* we're waiting for, but *how* we choose to wait. Editor: Beautifully put. Now, to the cafe? I know of a perfect one close to here!