Au Bal Noir et Blanc (Evening Coat)

This hand-colored woodcut from a fashion journal depicts a woman in an elaborate patterned evening coat at a formal ball, attended by a gentleman. The composition employs bold color contrast—yellow walls, black linear patterning, and vibrant purple plumage—typical of Art Deco design. The work descends from the tradition of satirical prints by Hogarth, Gillray, and Rowlandson, which mocked fashion excess and social pretension through exaggerated dress and gesture. By the 1920s, fashion illustration had become a vehicle for both aesthetic innovation and social commentary on class, gender, and consumption. The theatrical posture and lavish costume mock the artificiality of high society ritual, using the woodcut's stark linework to expose the constructed nature of fashionable identity.