Le Moniteur de la Mode 1890, nr. 2636c, No. 32 : Toilette de Mad.e Duboys.. 1890

This is an 1890 fashion plate from Le Moniteur de la Mode, a French magazine, created by A. Portier. Printed on paper using engraving and possibly stenciling, it depicts the clothing of well-to-do women. Fashion plates like this were crucial to the rise of mass-produced apparel. They offered a vision of Parisian style that could then be replicated by dressmakers, seamstresses, and, increasingly, factories. The image doesn’t just depict the clothing, it sells a lifestyle of leisure and refinement, seen in the naturalistic setting. Consider the labor behind the scenes. This plate could only reach a wide audience because of industrialization: the industrialization of printing, the industrialization of textiles. It represents a complex web of production and consumption, with implications for social class, labor practices, and the global economy. This image prompts us to look beyond the surface of fashion and consider the material conditions that make it possible, blurring the lines between art, craft, and commerce.