I'm In the Mood for Fashion Illustration

Over the past 100 years, and then some, the popularity of fashion illustration has come and gone, then come back again. It most likely started with the covers for Vogue, founded in 1892 as a weekly magazine targeting upper-echelon men and women.  It was a glorified society page, listing their weddings, debuts, travels and entertainment, in addition to fashion.

Conde Nast bought the magazine in 1909 with a goal of increasing circulation from 14,000 to 100,000.  His first step was to emphasize cover art.  And art it was.

 

Illustrations reflected an archetype, not a specific person.  Covers portrayed the times through the eyes of young artists with a variety of styles.  Here, Art Deco graphic arts is combined with 1920's fashion.

Vogue's first cover with a photograph came in 1932.  It was considered modern, and by the end of the decade photographs took over all their covers.   With a few exceptions, fashion illustration basically fell out of favor for nearly fifty years.

In the 1980s there began an international revival of interest in fashion illustration, both functionally and as an art form.  Popularity continues today - with the current appetite for all things retro, the tables have turned and illustration is what is feeling "fresh".

According to Laird Borrelli's Stylishly Drawn, there are three broad categories of fashion illustration.  She calls the first one "Sensualists".  They emphasize the fine arts tools (paints, inks, woodblocks, etc.) as much as the end product.  The Vogue cover above, although it's from 1935, is an example.  The clothes are subtle suggestions, not detailed depictions.  Kareem Iliya is one of the big names in this Sensualist style.

A second category is "Technocrats".  These are computer-generated illustrations.  Kristian Russell is a Technocrat illustrator.

Borrelli's third category is "Gamines and Sophisticates", characterized by caricatures and cartoon-like illustrations.  I bought Rebecca Moses' A Life of Style  three years ago, fascinated by her drawing style.  This is a good example of "Gamines and Sophisticates". 

Up to this point, the discussion has focused on fashion illustration as art.  There also is the utilitarian side, where the emphasis is on depicting garments accurately for seamstresses.  Patterns naturally come to mind.  I was lucky enough to come across some pages from an original issue of a 1930 McCall's Magazine; I bought all the ones with pretty colors. 

The description for pattern # 6088 on the left is "Paris is paying more and more attention to pleats in the new sports things. An embroidered motif in single and running stitch on pockets lend an attractive touch."

For number 6085, on the right, "The V of a crossed yoke cut in one with short cape sleeves is repeated in the V heading a panel of pleats in the front of a sports frock.  A narrow belt is used."

 After all that, I felt I would be able to draw at least SOMETHING with my new drawing toys.  So yesterday I drew about a dozen pictures, one more failed than the other.  The more I drew, the worse I got.  I was tempted to just give up, but I think I should just practice more.

Because now that I'm in the mood for fashion illustration, I want to actually create something.