Journal des Dames et des Modes, Costume Parisien, 15 octobre 1807, (843): Négligé pour la Promenade 1807

This hand-colored etching by Pierre Charles Baquoy was created in Paris in 1807. It's a fashion plate, intended to be included in the Journal des Dames et des Modes, a popular magazine of the period. The print demonstrates the prevailing style of the French Empire, a seemingly simple, flowing white dress. This aesthetic actually relied on a massive global trade system. Cotton processed using slave labor in the Americas, was shipped to Europe, woven into textiles, then tailored into clothing by skilled dressmakers. The shawl, hat and jewelry add color, texture, and richness to the composition. Consider too the labor required to create an etching like this: the skilled hand of the artist, the printers, and the colorists who added the final touches. Fashion plates like this one helped drive consumption, while obscuring the intensive work required to produce the garments they depicted. They remind us that the seemingly weightless world of fashion rests on a complex foundation of labor and materials.