Choix, "Planche VI: Chapeaux & Coiffures"

This book, titled "Choix" (Choice), is the second of 800 copies that were published by Paul Iribe, a French illustrator, cartoonist, designer, decorator and art director, in 1930. Lamenting that French design had become "poor" and "americanized" in the years since the First World War, Iribe argues that the genius of French design lies in what he calls the "principe de l'arabesque" (principle of the arabesque). Facing the economic downturn of the 1930, Iribe is inviting his fellow French designers to choose to return to the "arabesque France" in design rather than to continue following the fashions imposed by the "cube Europe". To do so, after 31 pages with written text explaining his purpose, he presents seven plates of printed overlays over gold and silver board images depicting styles of the 1930's in home decor and fashion, as examples of industrial designs to illustrate the principle of the arabesque.

This plate, the sixth in the book, presents designs for four different hairstyles, all of them created on the gold board with smooth surfaces with lines over a slightly rougher background, and four matching hats, created with black on the printed overlay. The gold board presents the outlines of four faces, with long eyelashes and different variations of the short hairstyles with slightly curled ends that were typical of the late-1920s, from different perspectives: one in profile, two in three-quarter view, and one facing front. The printed overlay contains the designs for the hats: one of them covering only the upper part of the head, tilted slightly to the front, and decorated with a large flower over the wearer's forehead, and with hanging black feathers over the back of her head. Another presents a sort of helmet with black feathers and what looks like a mohawk made up of thin straight lines. The other two present designs for hats more typical of the "garçonne" look of the late-1920s: one is round over the head, with a thin brim and decorated with a large undulating feather on top, the front of which has a hanging veil that covers the eyes of the weather; the other is also round over the head with an undulating brim, and is decorated with a rosette with hanging feathers to the right of the wearer's head.