Judge — January 3, 1903 — page 5: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is an illustration by renowned artist James Montgomery Flagg from Judge magazine's "Girls of Our Town" series. The image depicts an elegantly dressed woman in profile wearing fashionable early-1900s attire: a large decorative hat, fitted dark coat, and trailing skirt. The accompanying verse celebrates her fashionable appearance and social influence, suggesting that well-dressed women ("the beauties of her dimpled togs") naturally "lead the world." The satirical point appears to be a gentle mockery of how society—particularly New York society—prioritized women's fashion and appearance as measures of their importance and influence. This reflects turn-of-the-century attitudes about the "Gibson Girl" aesthetic and society women's role as arbiters of taste and style, while humorously suggesting this fashion-driven prominence was somewhat frivolous.