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Fashion plate, 1860 V&A Museum no. E.267-1942

A fashion plate is, literally, an illustration (a plate) demonstrating the highlights of fashionable styles of clothing.

Used figuratively, as is most often the case, the term is a reference to a person whose dress conforms to the latest fashions.

References

• Steele, Valerie: Paris Fashion: A Cultural History, Oxford University Press, 1988, ISBN 0195044657.