La Vie Parisienne

La Vie Parisienne was a French weekly magazine, founded in 1863. At first it was meant to be a guide to the privileged social and artistic life in Paris, but it soon evolved into a slightly risqué publication, with illustrations of scantly clad women covering the pages. In a few neighboring countries - like Belgium - it was banned, but in reality it was more of a high class humor magazine which reputation got a bit out of hand...

The illustrations were mostly very tastefully made, in the Art Nouveau style, by artists such as Georges Barbier, Chéri Hérouard, Umberto Brunelleschi, Fabien Fabiano, and Léo Fontan. These pictures reflected the aesthetics and values of the time, and this together with the intellectual wit and satire of the texts published in the magazine proved a success!

Here are some of these lovely - "horrible" - illustrations:

The text says "The wind is a good couturier".

The text reads: "After the husband's train has left".