Description
Le Moniteur de la Mode presented the latest developments in fashion and style, including coiffure and home furnishings, from 1843 to 1913. This series was part of the boom in French fashion periodicals beginning in the second quarter of the 19th Century, facilitated by advances in printing technology enabling larger production of plates. Such publications disseminated influential French fashions to provincial and foreign readers. France at the time dominated the market for luxury items, including fine clothes and accessories.
Jules David, a French painter and lithographer, was a principal contributor to the publication. David was an accomplished watercolorist who made his Salon debut in 1834. (The Salons were prestigious annual fine art exhibitions in Paris.) He helped to introduce naturalistic situations to fashion illustration — instead of stiffly posed and isolated figures, the clothes were shown worn by women engaged in daily activities in fully realized environments. British and American fashion publications also imported plates by Jules David and others.
References:
Bénézit, E. Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs. France: Librairie Gründ, 1966. Vol. 3, p. 70.
Valérie, Guillaume. “La Mode.” Anneau des Ressources Francophone de l’Education. 2000-2001. http://www.arfe-cursus.com/mode2.htm (26 February 2004).
“Victorian Fashion Plates.” Earth Antiques & Appraisals. http://www.1earth.com.au/collectible/fashion/victorian_fashion_plates.html (26 February 2004).