Date: c. 1930s
Origin: France
Brand: Alpha Paris
This is a 1930s Alpha Paris girdle advertisement illustrated by Georges Lepape. Translated from the French, the advertisement reads, “The Alpha Girdle, made from very supple and odorless rubber, slims and provides perfect support. Invisible under the lightest dress, it offers an incomparable feeling of well-being and seems to become a part of you!”
Underneath the illustration the ad goes on to state, “The ALPHA specialties—belts, bathing caps, hot water bottles, etc.—are sold everywhere” Alpha was a Paris-based brand that made rubber products, notably ladies’ belts for sport, bathing caps, gloves for electrical and chemical handling, and hot water bottles among other things. These products came in various colors including transparent, white, black, grey, orange, red, royal blue, turquoise, purple, green, and yellow. The ad lists the manufacturer, Schoenfeld Frères, and their address in Pantin, France, a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris. Schoenfeld Frères was a French manufacturer that specialized in rubber products from the late nineteenth century and into the twentieth century.
Georges Lepape (1887-1971) was a French illustrator, poster artist, and fashion designer. Paul Poiret selected Lepape to illustrate 1911’s Les Choses de Paul Poiret, a compact portfolio of pochoir prints (a printing method that uses stencils, widely favored from the late 19th century until the 1930s) showcasing George Lepape’s artistic interpretations of Paul Poiret’s couture designs. This portfolio was produced in limited quantities and used as an artistic method to advertise Poiret’s designs. Lepape went on to illustrate covers for La Gazette du Bon Ton, Femina, La Donna, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, House & Garden, and Vanity Fair. He designed a total of 114 Vogue covers from 1916 to 1939.
From the collection of Karolina Laskowska
Many thanks to Ellen Greene for the object description and research.
