Le Bouton dans la Mode (The Button in Fashion)

This fashion illustration plate from Gazette du Bon Ton demonstrates the decorative linecut technique favored by early twentieth-century luxury publications. Six numbered figures showcase buttons as ornamental design elements: from fabric fastenings to jeweled brooches, pendant charms, and sculptural accessories. Two profile silhouettes model garments embellished with button details, while technical drawings below isolate buttons for textile manufacturers and couturiers. The spare, elegant line work reflects Art Deco restraint—a sharp departure from the densely satirical compositions of nineteenth-century prints by Gillray and Daumier. Yet this commercial illustration maintains the didactic tradition of picture-sheets: teaching through visual example rather than moral critique, it targets the fashion industry's elite consumers and producers, encoding class aspiration in every fastened seam.