Date: 1934
Origin: France
Brand: Au Printemps
The Parisian department store ‘Au Printemps’ (translating literally as ‘in the spring’) was founded in 1865 by Jules Jaluzot and Jean-Alfread Duclos. This 1934 catalogue displayed the store’s range of products, including fashion, homewear, beauty, furniture and habedashery.
These excerpts show the selection of women’s lingerie, loungewear and corsetry, hosiery, fabrics and haberdashery, children’s and men’s underwear.
The selection of women’s underwear is especially noteworthy, as it shows the transitional nature of fashion: certain silhouettes and cuts of bras and corsets would not be out of place in the 1910s, the 1920s and even the 1940s. For example, the catalogue contains garments similar to this c. 1910s bust bodice, this c. 1920s bra, this c. 1930s bra, this c. 1940s trousseau set and this c. 1940s bra. This highlights the difficulties in dating objects, as no single silhouette can be definitively applied to a single decade.
From the collection of Karolina Laskowska
