From the sky-high coiffures of Georgian Britain to the languid silhouette of 192
0s '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 print
ed, hand-coloured fashion plates depicting the latest styles and fabrics first a
ppeared in Britain and France in the late 1700s - nestled in luxurious periodica
ls and available for sale as desirable objects in their own right. At the same t
ime (and often by the same artists), satirical prints gloried in the absurdities
of fashion, presenting an alternative, often grotesque, vision of the fashionab
le ideal.
Presented here as a joint history for the first time, the two genre
s describe an emerging, vibrant fashion culture. They themselves also evolved as
art forms, first through the pages of the mass-produced Victorian periodical, a
nd then as vibrant, stencilled images in the luxurious publications of the 1920s
and '30s. Lavishly illustrated and rigorously researched, Style and Satire pres
ents a fresh and original history of fashion - a vital and witty addition to eve
ry fashion victim's library.
