Entitled: "Costumes Parisiens" fashion plate by Barbier, 1913. George Barbier (October 10, 1882 - March 16, 1932) was one of the great French illustrators of the early 20th century. By 1911 he was at the forefront of his profession with commissions to design theater and ballet costumes, to illustrate books, and to produce haute couture fashion illustrations. For the next 20 years Barbier led a group from the Ecole des Beaux Arts. He died in 1932 at the very pinnacle of his success. Fashion is a distinctive and often habitual trend in the style in which a person dresses. It is the prevailing styles in behavior and the newest creations of textile designers. Prior to the mid-19th century, most clothing was custom-made. It was handmade for individuals, either as home production or on order from dressmakers and tailors. By the beginning of the 20th century, with the rise of new technologies such as the sewing machine, the development of the factory system of production, and the emergence of department stores, clothing had increasingly come to be mass-produced in standard sizes and sold at fixed prices.