Le Vrai et le Faux Chic, Musée des Erreurs, Page 10

Tenth page of illustrated section, "Musée des Erreurs" (Museum of Errors), of book with color lithography illustrations, titled "Le Vrai & le Faux Chic" (The True and False Chic), written and illustrated by SEM [Georges Goursat], and published in Paris in 1914. The page contains illustrations of three female figures: The first, roughly outlined with gray, wears a Hobble skirt and jacket, a headdress with fur details, a fur muff and a cane. The second wears an Oriental costume made up of a mint green blouse with sheer sleeves, a mint green Hobble skirt with a sheer, A-shaped overskirt with a border made with black fur and red roses, and a green belt, green stockings, mint green heels with straps, pearl necklace, earrings, bracelet, and headband with large, white feathers, and holding a closed, green fan with a hanging tassel on her hand. The third woman wears a pink costume made up of a jacket with white ruffles and golden rosettes and tassels, and a draping skirt, tight at the ankles, with golden tassels on the borders, black shhoes, a pair of gold bracelets, and a large, square, black hat with black feathers extending to the side.

The set of illustrations titled "Musée des Erreurs" (Museum of Errors) provides a number of examples of the "false chic" that SEM criticizes, through caricature in both the written commentary and the illustrations, in his book, which consists of a title page, 2 leaves with advertisements, 40 pages text and illustrations (17 pages compose the illustrated section "Musée des Erreurs"), and 2 leaves with advertisements, not bound and kept in a blue slip case with the original white paper covers, embossed and gilded. SEM argues that disorder that reigns the fashion industry of the time. Fashion, he argues, is no longer reserved for specialists, and appeals for the collaboration of painters, artists and writers alike. It is an "eminently French" phenomenon, which lives especially in Paris, although it has become a sort of vice by the time he writes: fashion has become disorganized and ever-changing due to the influence of a group of people who lack discipline and control. This has led to a number of extravagances that reflect on the irrational choices in the costumes and headdresses of women and the complicated and excessive outfits worn by Parisian women.