Judge — November 1, 1902 — page 5: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This 1902 Judge cartoon satirizes women's fashion through a conversation between two female figures (Gladys and Edna). The main illustration shows two elegantly dressed women in elaborate gowns with full skirts, alongside a smaller figure of a woman in a black dress. The joke plays on the term "stick"—slang for a thin, fashionable man. Edna corrects Gladys, saying the man isn't just "a stick" but "a whole caddy-bag," suggesting he's as thin and compartmentalized as a golf bag. This appears to mock the exaggerated silhouettes and corseted figures fashionable in the Edwardian era, where extreme thinness in the torso contrasted sharply with voluminous skirts. The satire critiques both male and female body ideals of the period.