The Illustrations

     The 24 fashion plates in this collection show young, sexually mature women wearing the latest style of clothing and accessories. They are posed either alone or accompanied by a well dressed man or a child. Each plate is underscored by a suggestive and titillating subtitle such as Plate 1: “ Le Prétexte”  which appears beneath a woman bending over to tie her cothurn (flat heeled shoes held by ribbons that wind up the ankles) while exposing her legs in public. The settings include: in a middle-class domestic space, or aided by urban architectural elements, or in a bucolic landscape or garden.  The activities correspond to the subtitles, and may reflect either a genteel social encounter or a slightly risque gesture, and they tended be of a romantic nature. The smaller subtitles offer a short description of the outfit, for example, “short tunic, sheer skirt.” The faces and bodies of the models are idealized, not individualized;  their body movements are dainty and fluid and the motions of their clothing are often dynamic.