Femina was a French women's magazine that ran from 1901 to 1954 (with interruptions and a change of ownership). Here we have the March 1908 "special number", showcasing the coming modes for Spring and Summer.
Beginning with the magazine's coloured centre spread, we see a group of ladies dressed for the races at Longchamp. For women, Longchamp was as much about looking at and showing off the fashions as watching the races. Around this time fashion designers started sending models to the racecourse to parade in their latest and most daring creations.
Next, a selection of evening dresses. On the left and the right, dinner dresses. In the centre a ball gown.
Some day dresses.
Coats—for the evening on the left and right, and for day in the centre.
And lastly, hats. They are not yet quite as large as they were to become in the early 1910s, but they're getting there. Laden with trimmings they would have been skewered to their wearers' hair with long hatpins. The hairstyles themselves would have been elaborate confections dressed over pads with additional false hair to make them seem thicker and bulkier.
So in summary, here we have a selection of extravagant (even for the era) clothes, obviously intended to be worn by wealthy women with busy social lives (the sheer number of evening fashions guarantees that). I'm not sure how many of Femina's readers would have actually worn these styles, and how many just looked and sighed in envy!
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