Fashion Journal — Le Bon Genre 1813 Pierre de la Mésangère Empire Fashion Plates Parisian Satire Chinoiserie

Between 1801 and 1817, the Parisian publisher Pierre de la Mésangère produced Le Bon Genre: Observations sur les modes et les usages de Paris — 115 hand-colored engravings that began as straightforward fashion documentation and evolved into sharp social satire of the nouveaux riches and their ever-changing obsessions; this journal carries two of its most celebrated plates: Plate No. 78 "La manie des Fleurs" (April 1815) on the front — a woman in a high-waisted Empire gown with flowers massed on her head, trailing down her dress, encircling her hem, and dividing her sleeves with strings of roses, satirizing the "ridiculous profusion" of floral fashion — and Plate No. 60 "Une Chinoise de la Chaussée d'Antin" (August 1813) on the back, mocking the extreme enthusiasm for chinoiserie among the fashionable women of Paris's banking district, her Empire dress adorned with geometric motifs and pompoms, her monumental headdress crowned with exotic flowers.

Read the full story →

Product Details

• Format: Hardcover journal with matte laminated full-wrap cover
• Pages: 150 lined pages (75 sheets) with perforations for easy removal
• Binding: Casewrap sewn binding — flexible and lay-flat
• Dimensions: 5.75 × 8 inches
• Weight: 250 g (0.55 lbs)
• Cover: Matte laminated full-wrap print; small 0.5" × 0.5" production barcode on back

Perfect For

• Fashion historians documenting Empire era trends and Parisian haute couture evolution
• Costume designers celebrating early 19th-century fashion plates and social satire
• Francophiles appreciating Pierre de la Mésangère's Le Bon Genre legacy
• Fashion enthusiasts recording style inspiration from Regency and Napoleonic eras
• Gift-givers for vintage fashion lovers, French culture admirers, and historical illustration collectors
• Design journalers appreciating chinoiserie, floral motifs, and Empire silhouettes