New Fashion of the Half-World. Reappearance of the baskets – it seems that these ladies are not yet quite done with their harvest, plate 295 from Actualités

Honoré Daumier’s savvy critiques of Parisian fashion are all the more remarkable for the speed with which they were produced, made possible through the medium of lithography. This lighthearted image lampoons the oversize crinoline supports for skirts worn in the mid-1850s. Indeed, 1856 marked the height of the crinoline craze, when the support garments were at their widest, deepest, and most difficult to maneuver. Here Daumier likened these voluminously dressed women to baskets of fruit almost tipping over as they lurch into one another.