Judge — July 22, 1893 — page 16: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is a satirical fashion plate mocking men's fashion obsession. The page presents exaggerated "gentlemen's fashions" with absurd items like elastic bands for hat pins, novelty belts, and elaborate moustache-wearing styles—treating male grooming with the same breathless detail typically reserved for women's fashion magazines. The satire targets "dudes" (fashionable young men concerned with appearance) and challenges the gender assumption that only women need fashion guidance. The caption explicitly states: "Why should the ladies have a monopoly of the fashion papers?—Give the dudes a chance." This ridicules both male vanity and the emerging "fashion plate" magazine genre itself, suggesting that men obsessing over appearance is as absurd as women doing so. The exaggerated styles and fussy details underscore Judge's mockery of fashionable masculinity during the Gilded Age.