Young Lady's Evening Dress, finely pleated and gathered. c1922.

by Gazette du Bon Ton

Elegant young lady. Croquis XVIII (Fashion Sketch 18).

Original pochoir by the David sisters, published in Paris circa 1922 for La Gazette du Bon Ton (Journal of Good Style), the exclusive publication where the finest fashion illustrators introduced the latest superior fashion styles of prominent French designers. Gazette du Bon Ton was published by Lucien Vogel in Paris between 1912 and 1925 (with a break during World War I).

Pochoir, the French word for stencil, has been used worldwide since this method of illustrating fashion was perfected by the French artists for Gazette du Bon Ton. The labour-intensive method of illustration required up to 20 stencils to be cut for successive applications of watercolour by hand with a variety of tools and brushes to achieve consistency of fabric detail, and variation of colour and tone. 

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