The Barbizon Style Reference Book. BarbizonFall Winter 1965

New York: The Barbizon Corporation, 1965. First Edition. Wraps. Stapled. Very Good. Scarce catalogue with many pages of actual, or non-photographic, illustration of models in the company's lingerie, sleepwear, day and leisure wear, with 16 pages of full color renderings. 4to. 28 by 22 cm. 75 pp. Also text on rear inside cover, and separate or loose, a printed one page cover letter, an one page order form, and an one sheet, two page price list on glossy light card stock. (Separate sheets were probably meant to be nestled under large flap in front.) The catalogue came out when the days of fashion being promoted solely with non-photographic illustration was not unusual but was starting to lose favor and/or die out. A few businesses such as Lord & Taylor, stuck by such illustrations for a while after, into we believe the early eighties, but even Lord & Taylor was also substituting photos of live models for its trademark illustration style long before. In this catalogue one can see the virtue of pure illustration -- it facilitates conveying the emotional and impressionist element of clothing, the spinning of fantasy, and the like, and also does so without the toxic subtext that photos of live models might incite -- the impossible comparisons a person might make to a real person, etc. We don't know the history of the Barbizon Corporation, when it was founded and its fate. It seems obvious, though, that it was appropriating the name of the storied young women's hotel located on Lexington Avenue and 63rd Street, which had the reputation of housing young single women from monied family, as epitomized by Grace Kelly before she became a movie star. And the look the company was evoking was that associated with the stereotypical Junior Leaguer. In the back of the brochure the company lays out its advertising program. This seems a peculiar thing to have in a retail catalogue. Perhaps this catalogue was something of a pilot publication targeting investors and lenders as much as buyers. Light dusty film on cover. Some leaves have dogeared corners.