Palm Beach, George Barbier 1920s fashion, French pochoir.

by Barbier, George

Gazette du Bon Ton. Lady and attentive companion, antique print c1921. Tailleur, de Worth. Tailoring designed by Charles Worth.

Original fashion pochoir by George Barbier (1882-1932) for La Gazette du Bon Ton (Journal of Good Style). Between 1912 and 1925 (with a break during World War I), the finest fashion illustrators introduced the newest fashions by prominent French designers. Barbier was one of the four regular contributors for this exclusive periodical, and his fashion illustrations are some of the most sought after today. Barbier charming fashion narrative pochoirs convey the mood of each style beautifully. In this case, a confident lady is wearing a fashionable but comfortable dress, and is in an idyllic situation on a sunny beach beside a palm tree, with her faithful dog awaiting their next move.

The Gazette du Bon Ton series of fashion stencils have always been known as pochoir (French for stencil) in recognition of the skill of French artists in this method of illustration. Pochoir was a labour-intensive process, with a separate stencil cut for each successive application of colour applied by a variety of tools to produce the detail and colour tone of the fabric and style when worn.

Size of page 24 x 19cm or 9.5 x 7.5 inches