Wearing modernity: illustrated magazines, fashion and consumption in Rio de Janeiro

The scenario of modernization in the city of Rio de Janeiro initiated in the nineteenth century led to significant economic, political and cultural changes. These changes, leveraged by historical events such as the Opening of Ports in 1808, and urban reforms, were moving alongside a process of building a civilizing mentality endorsed by local elites, from European, more precisely French models, which were considered as synonyms of elegance and civility. In this same period, Rio de Janeiro's press produced periodic circulation materials, such as newspapers and magazines. It is in this context that the illustrated magazines become popular, participating in the process of modernization of the "court-city", with the purpose of shaping the "new society of Rio de Janeiro", especially in what concerns consumer habits, more precisely fashion. This means of communication acted as an important pillar in the construction of a new Rio de Janeiro, propagating customs, pointing out what should be consumed and how it should be used by this transitional society, based on foreign aesthetic standards, producing senses and symbologies of its own for a population that began to walk through new streets and wide and modern avenues, in a new process of "seeing and being seen". In this sense, the illustrated magazines constitute the object of study of the article, where the following publications were analyzed: O malho (1902 - 1954), Revista da Semana (1900 - 1940), Fon - Fon! (1907 - 1958), O Novo Correio das Modas (1852 - 1854), and A Estacao (1879 - 1904). The temporal cut spans the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.