Fashion illustration

   The art of drawing costume images dates back to sixteenth century costume books that depicted regional and ethnic dress. Beginning in France and England during the seventeenth century and continuing through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, a multitude of fashion magazines became popular, such as Lady's Magazine, La Belle Assemblée, Godey's Lady's Book, Acker-man 's Repository of the Arts, Le Cabinet des Modes, Le journal des dames et des modes, and the Gallery of Fashion. The fashion plate, popularized during the eighteenth century, where watercolor illustrations were later engraved, depicted with great technical accuracy fashion trends of the times. Later, designers commissioned artists to illustrate their designs that were featured in fashion magazines such as Vogue and Harper 's Bazaar or in trade publications such as WWD. This changed, however, with the introduction of photography, which began in 1913. By the late 1960s, magazines completely favored fashion photography over fashion illustration with fashion photographers creating new and interesting ways to sell and advertise clothes. WWD broke with the past much later. It was not until well into the 1980s that it began to phase out illustrations in favor of photography. The early twenty-first century saw a renewed interest in illustration, mostly inspired by computer-generated fashion illustration.

   See also Fashion illustrator.