In the first half of the 19th century people did not have such a great variety of media resources. Newspapers and fashion magazines were the only sources from which “connected” people could get the useful information about what to wear for which occasion.
Together with the magazines they could buy the so-called “fashion images”- colored engravings showing young men and women dressed in the height of fashion. Such engravings were considered a real artwork since they were painted by professional artists.
The St Petersburg Museum of History has opened an exhibition dedicated to such fashion images. The Fashion Images Exhibition in St Petersburg is showing more than 250 images from the collection of the museum for the first time. The most interesting among the exhibits are engravings from French fashion magazines of the 19th century such as ”Le moniteur de la Mode” and ”Le Bon Ton.” It will be possible to see some postcards and costumes of the same period.
If you want to learn more about fashion trends of the 19th century and the development of the images you can attend lectures organized by the museum curators. The exhibition will last from December 2013 until April 1st, 2014.