I recently acquired a lovely bound book containing issues of Le Mirror Des Modes form 1907-1908. I’m super excited to share images with you of these gorgeous illustrations of early 20th century fashions.
Many of you read a prior post about my allergies, one of which is an allergy to the mold that grows on old paper. However, I wasn’t about to give up all of my favorite things, so I have also now acquired a Darth Vader-esque face mask. I may look like a female version of something out of Star Wars (complete with two large pink air filters on either side of my face), but I can carefully handle some of these old papers and keep scanning in articles from my fashion history resources to share. So hurrah for implements to make things better (even if it does take some getting used to). It looks totally awesome when I add my vintage day-to-day 1950s cat eye frames with rhinestones. Just sayin’ ;)
But I digress… here is the first post of what I hope will be a regular blog feature of some fabulous Edwardian (or Belle Epoque, rather) fashions from Le Mirror des Modes.
For starters, I wanted to share a “before” and “after” example of what I do to the images I post here after I’ve scanned in the original source material. It takes a while to do, but it truly is a labour of love, and I’m really glad to have finally found others who appreciate these old fashion history treasures.
If you are fluent in French you’ve got an extra special treat, as I’m including scans of the entire article. For the rest of us, however, we must be content to look at pretty pictures. If you do understand what’s written, I’d love it if you would be willing to share any interesting tidbits written here. My French is somewhat questionable, at best ;)
I also have a few of the images themselves here to share for your fashion history research/craft projects
Stephanie
November 18, 2012 at 8:12 pm (11 years ago)Thanks for the lovelies! I’ve been pouring over Edwardian inspiration all weekend too. So yummy! I think I’m going to take the plunge and make some Edwardian underthings and corset sometime after the holidays.
Lauren
November 19, 2012 at 7:18 pm (11 years ago)Ah! That would be great! Maybe you sewing some will make me start mine! I’ve got those lovely Truly Victorian patterns but haven’t had the time to work on them yet.
Alli
November 19, 2012 at 2:23 am (11 years ago)What a beautiful book! The images are amazing….so gorgeous. I’d love to see a photo of you in your mask….bet you look cute rocking the pink with your fab glasses :) . So glad to hear that you have found a way that you can still do the things you love and not let your allergies hold you back. Awesome! Big hugs :)
xoxoxo
Lauren
November 19, 2012 at 7:19 pm (11 years ago)Glad you love the images, too!
LOL! I’m not sure about cute, but I do look a bit mad! Haha :)
Yes, I’m SO thankful that I was able to find something in a low price range that will help, even if it is annoying to wear!
Laurie
November 19, 2012 at 7:36 am (11 years ago)Hi! I speak french! It’s a really nice article, thanks for uploading! The first part of it is about life in Paris, and about how at this time of the year, the summer wardrobe is getting old and it’s now time to get some new clothes. And even though thick woolen clothing will soon make a comeback, it’s important to stay pretty and feminine. Next they are talking about the new fashionnable fabrics available, and what colors are recommended: thick diagonals, turquoise, almond green, raspberry or squished strawberry, deep purple, and for the softer colors, elephant, beaver and Mole. They also recommend velvet, taffeta and cotton velvet. I didn’t read the whole thing, but the rest seems to be a really detailed description of the patterns available, and there is also a part about what kind of fur is fashionnable or not and another one about which kind of flowers to wear on hats. It’s really nicely written and very formal, adressing the readers as “Madame, dear reader”. Hope this helps!!
Laurie
Lauren
November 19, 2012 at 7:15 pm (11 years ago)Oh wow! Thank you so much for sharing this with me! I love the descriptions of the colors. So very different than what we use in English! Haha!
Laurie
November 20, 2012 at 12:33 am (11 years ago)You’re welcome! We don’t describe the colors like that today either :)
Lauren
November 20, 2012 at 7:00 am (11 years ago)I’ve gotta wonder what they were thinking calling colors things like “Mole”. ;) Gee, I wonder why those color names went out of fashion… LOL!
Laurie
November 23, 2012 at 3:14 pm (11 years ago)LOL I suppose they just named the color after the animal… But it’s not very fancy to say ” oh look at that gorgeous Mole suit” why not just say brown instead?