“Historically, imagery that promoted the fashions of the day, most notably from the early 20th century to the 1950s, was dominated by illustration. However, the discipline lost ground to photography and it was not until the 1990s that illustrators have returned to this domain.”
Alan Male 2007
The text asks "Is there a difference between the imagery created by the fashion illustrators from the early twentieth century to the 1950s and those since the 1990s?" The link to the V&A is broken but it's easy to access the site and look at the range of illustrations they have online. I collected some of my favourites here, but there are many great examples from the 19th century to now. Over this time the styles of illustration have changed, reflecting changing ideas and tastes. Fashion from the late 1800's and into the early 20th century was aimed at the rich. Illustrations were constrained by the technology the day so Charles Dana Gibson made drawings in black and white and colour plates were rarer and expensive. Over time colour illustrations became more prevalent but were still not ubiquitous even in the 1970's.
From the early 20th century I looked at Erte from the 1920's and Christian Berard who worked in the 1930's and 40's, examples of his work that are online are more colourful than Gibson's work. Fashion photographs were available throughout the 20th century but were difficult to reproduce in newspapers with any clarity up until the 1980's when newspaper photograph quality improved. (Wikipedia)
Online I found many examples of fashion illustration from the 1950's to the 1990's including René Gruau (also here), David Exely, Bobby Hillson whose illustrations define the 1970's for me and Phil French in the 1980's. Kenneth Paul Block worked from the 1950's to 1990.
Fashion illustration has three functions:
1)It is there to create a desirable look and feel, something that the viewer wants to emulate and be part of. Once photographs became relatively cheap to take and to publish, magazines and newspapers could produce many varied images quicker than commissioning an illustrator. However with so many images readily available they had to work to make people notice their product. Photographs can be digitally manipulated to make them different and interesting but a hand drawn illustration really stands out in a crowd. Illustrated fashion is not constrained by reality, clothes can be shown without people, figures without faces, you don't have to worry about whether the clothes fit or indeed are actually wearable, you are selling a concept, a dream.
2) If you want to consider a design, especially if it radical and different, it is cheaper and quicker to draw it than to make it. The drawing can then be shown to makers, potential buyers and the target audience. If they like it, then a prototype can be made.
3) It can be a technical illustration. In a pattern for a seamstress it is a guide to how the product is intended to look, where are the fastenings, the pockets, the details. Here are the covers to a couple of old patterns where an illustration has been used. The pattern on the right shows both a reference photo to entice a potential buyer and a drawing of alternative versions which shows the shape of the skirt more clearly.
This pattern has seven possible variants which are shown stylistically rather than attempting to entice the purchaser. At the time of purchase there were few patterns available so not much competition, but also the style of a skating dress is quite predictable and is made more individual by the person sewing from the pattern.
Now we buy many items online an illustration can be more useful than a photograph. Photos can help, but often don't show the shape and detail clearly enough online for the potential buyer to make an informed choice. For example the Swedish designer Gudrun Sjödén includes a photo and a drawing of each garment for both her online site and her catalogue.
There have always been fashion illustrations and maybe they peaked in the early 20th century but they didn't die out between 1950 and 1990. They have changed over time because of changes in available technology and because illustrators, and those who commission illustrations constantly strive to make an image that is different and exciting to capture the imagination of potential buyers.
Alan Male 2007
The text asks "Is there a difference between the imagery created by the fashion illustrators from the early twentieth century to the 1950s and those since the 1990s?" The link to the V&A is broken but it's easy to access the site and look at the range of illustrations they have online. I collected some of my favourites here, but there are many great examples from the 19th century to now. Over this time the styles of illustration have changed, reflecting changing ideas and tastes. Fashion from the late 1800's and into the early 20th century was aimed at the rich. Illustrations were constrained by the technology the day so Charles Dana Gibson made drawings in black and white and colour plates were rarer and expensive. Over time colour illustrations became more prevalent but were still not ubiquitous even in the 1970's.
From the early 20th century I looked at Erte from the 1920's and Christian Berard who worked in the 1930's and 40's, examples of his work that are online are more colourful than Gibson's work. Fashion photographs were available throughout the 20th century but were difficult to reproduce in newspapers with any clarity up until the 1980's when newspaper photograph quality improved. (Wikipedia)
Online I found many examples of fashion illustration from the 1950's to the 1990's including René Gruau (also here), David Exely, Bobby Hillson whose illustrations define the 1970's for me and Phil French in the 1980's. Kenneth Paul Block worked from the 1950's to 1990.
Fashion illustration has three functions:
1)It is there to create a desirable look and feel, something that the viewer wants to emulate and be part of. Once photographs became relatively cheap to take and to publish, magazines and newspapers could produce many varied images quicker than commissioning an illustrator. However with so many images readily available they had to work to make people notice their product. Photographs can be digitally manipulated to make them different and interesting but a hand drawn illustration really stands out in a crowd. Illustrated fashion is not constrained by reality, clothes can be shown without people, figures without faces, you don't have to worry about whether the clothes fit or indeed are actually wearable, you are selling a concept, a dream.
2) If you want to consider a design, especially if it radical and different, it is cheaper and quicker to draw it than to make it. The drawing can then be shown to makers, potential buyers and the target audience. If they like it, then a prototype can be made.
3) It can be a technical illustration. In a pattern for a seamstress it is a guide to how the product is intended to look, where are the fastenings, the pockets, the details. Here are the covers to a couple of old patterns where an illustration has been used. The pattern on the right shows both a reference photo to entice a potential buyer and a drawing of alternative versions which shows the shape of the skirt more clearly.
This pattern has seven possible variants which are shown stylistically rather than attempting to entice the purchaser. At the time of purchase there were few patterns available so not much competition, but also the style of a skating dress is quite predictable and is made more individual by the person sewing from the pattern.
Now we buy many items online an illustration can be more useful than a photograph. Photos can help, but often don't show the shape and detail clearly enough online for the potential buyer to make an informed choice. For example the Swedish designer Gudrun Sjödén includes a photo and a drawing of each garment for both her online site and her catalogue.
There have always been fashion illustrations and maybe they peaked in the early 20th century but they didn't die out between 1950 and 1990. They have changed over time because of changes in available technology and because illustrators, and those who commission illustrations constantly strive to make an image that is different and exciting to capture the imagination of potential buyers.
(Fashion illustration blogspot has a useful short history)
No comments:
Post a Comment