Le Charivari, Actualités, 1850, No. 34 : Les Chapeaux à la Nouvelle Mod (...) c. 1850

This anonymous lithograph was published in the French newspaper Le Charivari in 1850. It satirizes the extravagant fashions of the time, in particular, women's hats. The image depicts a woman with an enormous hat struggling to enter a carriage, while a gentleman observes with a mixture of amusement and exasperation. In nineteenth-century France, fashion was closely tied to social class, and the upper classes often used clothing to display their wealth and status. Le Charivari was known for its satirical commentary on Parisian life, and often poked fun at the bourgeoisie and their obsession with appearances. The caption translates to: "Dear friend, you must tell your coachbuilder to try to come to an understanding with your milliner!" To understand this image better, we might look at fashion plates and magazines from the period, as well as social histories of nineteenth-century France, which reveal the ways in which clothing was used to reinforce social hierarchies and express individual identity.