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Cameo

Fashion Drawing
1953-54 (made)
Artist/Maker

This is an original artwork for a fashion illustration by Marcel Fromenti for The Lady, a weekly magazine for women published since 1885. At the time it was made, Fromenti was the main artist for The Lady's fashion articles. The glamorous women in his drawings modelled both couture and high-end ready-to-wear garments with equal panache and elegance. Couture dresses and suits by leading Paris and London couturiers such as Christian Dior, Pierre Balmain and Norman Hartnell were drawn with the same flair as designs from British ready-to-wear labels such as Susan Small, Roecliff & Chapman, and Marcus. The articles described the fashion developments of their day in simple, accessible terms that contributed greatly to The Lady's popularity with its readers. Pencil notes record the designers, fabric and colour details, alongside technical instructions to the printers as to how these images should be incorporated into the printed page and at what scale.

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleCameo (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Pen and ink, wash and chinese white
Brief description
Marcel Fromenti. Day dresses by Fleuré (or Henri), Lady in Black (called "Cameo"), and Marcus. For The Lady. 1953-54
Physical description
Fashion drawing. Three day dresses by good-quality London ready-to-wear labels. On the left, a Fleuré (or Henri) summer suit, short-sleeved jacket with peplum and front-pleated skirt in striped grey silk shantung, worn with a straw hat, gloves and a parasol. In the middle, a full-skirted black wool day dress with cape sleeves by 'Lady in Black', called "Cameo". On the right, a printed silk, oyster-and-cafe-au-lait patterned sheath and stole by Marcus, worn with a small flower hat with face veil and parasol. Pencil notes give designer, fabric and colour notes.
Credit line
Given by the Editor of 'The Lady'
Summary
This is an original artwork for a fashion illustration by Marcel Fromenti for The Lady, a weekly magazine for women published since 1885. At the time it was made, Fromenti was the main artist for The Lady's fashion articles. The glamorous women in his drawings modelled both couture and high-end ready-to-wear garments with equal panache and elegance. Couture dresses and suits by leading Paris and London couturiers such as Christian Dior, Pierre Balmain and Norman Hartnell were drawn with the same flair as designs from British ready-to-wear labels such as Susan Small, Roecliff & Chapman, and Marcus. The articles described the fashion developments of their day in simple, accessible terms that contributed greatly to The Lady's popularity with its readers. Pencil notes record the designers, fabric and colour details, alongside technical instructions to the printers as to how these images should be incorporated into the printed page and at what scale.
Bibliographic reference
Victoria and Albert Museum Department of Prints and Drawings and Department of Paintings Accessions 1954 London: HMSO, 1963
Collection
Accession number
E.1575-1954

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
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