How to Use the Petticoats Newly in Fashion – Honoré Daumier (1856) – Vintage Lithograph Poster Print

Honore Daumier’s Maniere d’utiliser les jupons nouvellement mis a la mode is a wonderfully absurd piece of 19th-century French caricature, imagining the enormous fashionable petticoats of the day as makeshift flying machines. A woman perched atop her billowing skirt appears to float above the landscape like a human balloon, while other women glide through the sky on similarly improbable garments. A tiny hot-air balloon drifts overhead, reinforcing the joke: Daumier transforms contemporary fashion into an imaginary new form of aviation. The loose, expressive drawing and exaggerated proportions give the scene the lively, satirical character for which his Actualites series was renowned.

Published in Le Charivari on April 16, 1856, the lithograph pokes fun at the enormous crinolines and petticoats that had recently become fashionable. The humor lies in imagining an extreme fashion trend as something literally capable of carrying its wearer aloft: the figures become airborne by turning their voluminous skirts into parachutes or balloons. Daumier’s title, Maniere d’utiliser les jupons nouvellement mis a la mode (roughly, “How to Use the Petticoats Newly in Fashion”) makes the satirical premise explicit. It is an excellent example of Daumier’s ability to turn an everyday subject into an elaborate visual joke while simultaneously documenting contemporary Parisian fashion and social life.

 

🖨️ Print features:

– Made with museum-grade archival paper for excellent printing fidelity and vibrant color reproduction

– Paper weight: 189 g/m2

– For indoor use only

– Care instructions: If the print does gather any dust, you may wipe it off gently with a clean, dry cloth.

– Please note: Due to the production process of these posters, please allow for slight size deviations with a tolerance +/- 1/16″

 

🚚 Fulfillment, Shipping, and Return Policy:

– Printed and shipped from the U.S.

– Ships in a sturdy mailing tube, frame not included

– As our items are unique and made to order, we can only accept a return or exchange in the event that an item arrives damaged or misprinted. We cannot accept returns if you order the wrong size or change your mind. Any return requests must be made within 14 days of receiving the order.

 

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