La Revue de la Mode, 1900, No. 16, nr. 3788 1900

Editor: This is "La Revue de la Mode, 1900, No. 16", a watercolor painting from 1900. I find it intriguing how these fashion illustrations, with their delicate colors, also communicate very rigid social expectations through dress. What do you see in this work, especially considering its time? Curator: What I see is a snapshot of the Gilded Age, reflecting very specific class and gender dynamics. The restrictive clothing, emphasizing the hourglass figure, becomes a visual representation of the constraints placed upon women at the time. These women are literally being shaped by their garments into a particular societal ideal. Editor: So the clothes aren't just beautiful; they're almost like… armour? Curator: Precisely. This watercolour presents what theorist Thorstein Veblen termed “conspicuous consumption”. The elaborate gowns displayed, were available only to those with access to great financial wealth. Each adornment, each precisely placed ruffle and pleat, symbolizes status, economic stability, and cultural expectations, and simultaneously limited their mobility and agency. How do these expectations play out today? Editor: That's something I hadn't really considered, that fashion then, like now, told us who could move freely through society. Today we still make a snap-judgement based on someone's fashion and style, right? Curator: Absolutely. Though the garments have changed, fashion remains a powerful visual language – signaling belonging, resistance, and everything in between. This piece becomes a lens to view our own constructed identities and fashion's continued role in reinforcing or challenging social norms. The fashion depicted seems, from today's standpoint, utterly absurd! Editor: It's wild to see those old beauty standards laid bare and makes you wonder what future generations will think of today's trends. Thanks so much for your insights!