L'Heure du Rendez-vous (The Appointment Hour)

This hand-colored pochoir print from Gazette du Bon Ton depicts a fashionable woman in Paul Poiret's afternoon coat—a rust-orange wool garment with decorative embroidery and black fur trim. The figure stands in a winter landscape of bare trees, glancing back toward the viewer with an air of anticipation. Rather than satirical caricature, this represents the Gazette's primary function: glamorous fashion illustration for an elite Parisian audience. Yet the exaggerated proportions of the silhouette and the stylized face recall the caricature tradition from Hogarth through Daumier. This work exemplifies how early twentieth-century fashion magazines adapted printmaking methods—here pochoir, or stenciling—to create sumptuous color effects, bridging fine art and commercial illustration. The image reflects 1920s luxury consumption and the period's specific beauty ideal.