Style and Satire. Fashion in print 1777–1927

From the sky-high coiffures of Georgian Britain to the languid silhouette of 1920s ‘flappers’, Style and Satire tells the story of European fashion and its most fantastical trends from two interrelated perspectives — the lavish, celebratory fashion plate, and the gloriously irreverent satirical print. Beautifully printed, hand-coloured fashion plates depicting the latest styles and fabrics first appeared in Britain and France in the late 1700s — nestled in luxurious periodicals and available for sale as desirable objects in their own right.

At the same time (and often by the same artists), satirical prints gloried in the absurdities of fashion, presenting an alternative, often grotesque, vision of the fashionable ideal. Presented here as a joint history for the first time, the two genres describe an emerging, vibrant fashion culture. They themselves also evolved as art forms, first through the pages of the mass-produced Victorian periodical, and then as vibrant, stencilled images in the luxurious publications of the 1920s and ’30s. Lavishly illustrated and rigorously researched, Style and Satire presents a fresh and original history of fashion — a vital and witty addition to every fashion victim’s library.