Judge — December 21, 1895 — page 16: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page satirizes the early 20th-century fashion trend of extremely large buttons on clothing. The cartoons mock both the impracticality and absurdity of the style through humor. The central figure shows a woman wearing a coat with enormous buttons (marked with X's). Surrounding vignettes depict the unintended consequences: children mistaking large buttons for toys (hoops, hats, dice), confusion about their actual purpose, and the general chaos caused by their size. The humor targets fashion's tendency toward excess and the bewilderment of ordinary people—particularly men—confronted with women's fashionable garments. One caption notes a husband's confusion about "what kind of contract he had" when asked to purchase "half a dozen buttons," suggesting the impractical economics of the trend. The satire is gentle social commentary on fashion absurdity rather than serious political critique, typical of Judge magazine's lighthearted approach to contemporary fads and consumer culture.