October 10, 2007

Art. Goût. Beauté

The First World War has a great influence on the evolution of fashion : the absence of men modifies the place of women in the society. Confronted with new responsibilities, women wish to reach a new life style. Corsets are over ! Dresses are shortened, low-cut in the back, the waistline is not marked anymore. Great creators, as Jean Patou, Jeanne Lanvin, or the English Molyneux, set the style of a profile “à la garçonne”. The hats heavily decorated disappear for bell-hats. The new practice of sports imposes the creation of special suits for tennis, golf or mountain. Accessories come to highlight suits.
In 1925, the great exhibition of decorative arts brings innovation in the post-war fashion. Raoul Dufy draws printed fabrics for Bianchini Ferrier. Sonia Delaunay gives Jacques Heim embroidery patterns, Jean Dunand realizes, for the modeler Agnès, hats made of egg shells arranged like mosaics.
(Source: Encarta)


Published in the Twenties and Thirties, the review A.G.B. (Art, Taste and Beauty) reflects the Art deco period which celebrates the woman emancipation. These “layers of the feminine elegance” incorporate many "pochoir" illustrations, present various columns and a historical chronicle on the feminine fashion through the ages. Articles, written in a distinguished and sometimes obsolete and light style, invite to smile: “Nothing is more exquisite, nothing is more delicious than the fine silhouettes of Parisian women, fitted in light clothes, moving on emerald lawns or under the green foliations of the trees.”

Currently, the Librairie Loliée offers a choice of issues.