Each magazine contained lively articles and vividly illustrated fashion prints designed by the best-known artists and designers of the day. These illustrations were known as Costumes Parisiens. Like the Gazette du Bon Ton, but even more scarce, Costumes Parisiens were designed to appeal to the elite of Paris.
In June 1912, Italian writer Tom Antongini (1877-1967) published the first edition of his Parisian fashion magazine, Le Journal des Dames et des Modes. It represented the continuation of a celebrated journal of the same name (1797-1839). The magazine was issued three times a month until it ceased production in August 1914 with the outbreak of World War I.
Each magazine contained lively articles and vividly illustrated fashion prints designed by the best-known artists and designers of the day. These illustrations were known as Costumes Parisiens. Like the Gazette du Bon Ton, but even more scarce, Costumes Parisiens were designed to appeal to the elite of Paris.
The illustrators were given carte blanche to create sketches inspired by contemporary styles. The prints were produced with a combination of copperplate engraving and pochoir (stencil), a medium that particularly suited the simple lines and vibrant colors of current fashions. There were 186 prints created throughout the magazine’s two-year history.
As haute couture became an increasingly important part of the French fashion industry, fashion plates became miniature masterpieces advertising the latest creations designed or inspired by the best Parisian couturiers. For a short time at the end of the Belle Époque, the Journal was one of the trendsetters of Parisian culture.
