La Gazette du Bon Ton

La Gazette du Bon Ton was a leading French fashion magazine that was published from November 1912 to 1925.Davis, [http://books.google.com/books?id=FGZ_XZVtr6oC&pg=PA1821&vq=48&dq=gazette+du+bon+ton&as_brr=3&sig=FYXc_ZE31e2Gj1RaDwX8fCjjCMA 48] .] Founded in 1912 by Lucien Vogel, the magazine covered the latest developments in fashion, lifestyle, and beauty.

Elitism and arts focus

The magazine strove to present an elitist image to distinguish itself from its many competitors. [Davis, [http://books.google.com/books?id=FGZ_XZVtr6oC&pg=PA1823&vq=50&dq=gazette+du+bon+ton&as_brr=3&sig=hY_tW2O1eUPvBc73pS5RibVHXjM 50] -51.] It was available only to subscribers and was priced at a steep 100 francs per year.Davis, [http://books.google.com/books?id=FGZ_XZVtr6oC&pg=PA1823&vq=50&dq=gazette+du+bon+ton&as_brr=3&sig=hY_tW2O1eUPvBc73pS5RibVHXjM 50] .] The magazine was published on fine paper. The magazine signed exclusive contracts with seven of Paris's top couture houses (Cheruit, Doeuillet, Doucet, Paquin, Poiret, Redfern, and Worth) so that the designers' fashions were shown only in the pages of the "Gazette". The magazine's title was derived from the French concept of "bon ton", or timeless good taste and refinement.

The magazine also aimed to establish fashion as an art alongside painting, sculpture, and drawing: according to the magazine's first editorial, "The clothing of a woman is a pleasure for the eye that cannot be judged inferior to the other arts."Davis, [http://books.google.com/books?id=FGZ_XZVtr6oC&pg=PA1822&vq=50&dq=gazette+du+bon+ton&as_brr=3&sig=-JucTjW03xoAe8TZ_kfTxyJR8Ag 49] .]

To elevate the "Gazette"'s literary status, the magazine featured essays on fashion by established writers from other fields, including novelist Marcel Astruc, playwright Henri de Regnier, decorator Claude Roger-Marx, and art historian Jean-Louis Vaudoyer. Their contributions ranged in tone from irreverent to ironic and mocking.

Fashion illustrations

The centerpiece of the "Gazette" was its fashion illustrations.Davis, 56.] Each issue featured ten full-page fashion plates (seven depicting couture designs and three inspired by couture but designed solely by the illustrators).

It employed many of the most famous Art Deco artists and illustrators of the day, including Georges Barbier, Erté, Paul Iribe, Pierre Brissaud, and Georges Lepape, who all, rather than simply drawing a mannequin in the outfit, like most previous fashion illustrators, depicted the model in various dramatic and narrative situations.

Footnotes

Works cited

*Davis, Mary E. "Classic Chic: Music, Fashion, and Modernism." University of California Press: 2006. ISBN 0520245423.