Judge, 1903-06-20 · page 10 of 16
Judge — June 20, 1903 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes women's fashion through personified garments debating their obsolescence. A **hoop-skirt, bustle, and corset** meet in an attic, each lamenting how fashion has discarded them for newer styles. The corset, newly arrived, represents the current trend; the hoop-skirt and bustle are outdated predecessors. Their dialogue—with the bustle cattily noting the hoop-skirt "had to go in order to make room"—mocks how fashion cycles relentlessly replace itself. The punchline arrives when **Dame Fashion** (personified) retrieves all three from storage, declaring "Just what I want for next season"—suggesting fashion trends are cyclical and arbitrary, not based on logic or genuine improvement. The accompanying cartoons joke about city life and suburban gardening, unrelated to the main piece. The satire targets fashion's superficiality and the social pressure on women to constantly adapt their appearance to arbitrary standards.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
OF FASHION. IN THE attic there met a hoop-skirt, a bustle, and a corset. + Good-morning, friends,” said the cor- set, who was a new arrival. The others sa- luted graciously. “Tt has been a long time since I saw you,” said the corset to the bustle. “Yes,” answered the bustle. “They told me to go ‘way back and sit down quite a while ago.” “And 1," mur- mured the hoop-skirt. “L once had my day of usefulness, and I must say I enjoyed life while I was in so- ciety.” “T understand,” commented the cor- set, * that you whoop- ed things up consid- erably.” “Indeed I did,” Ln. eX = \ YM iran A PROFESSIONAL REASON. Crmzen—"" See here! why didn't you publish an account of my daughter's weddin’ to that duke yesterday ?"° E prTor—-"" We intended to, but at the very last moment it was crowded out by a greater—er—catastrophe.”” CHASING THEM OUT. Cirvwan—"' Are you going to raise your own vegetables this year?" Susursanire—"' No: I've got heart trouble and can't run.” t's running got to do with raising vegetables ?” ‘Susureanire—"* Great Scott! 1 guess you don't know my neighbor's hens."* iN answered the hoop- skirt with a flutter of pride. “If Ido say it myself, they all had to make room for me.” « But at last,” ob- served the bustle, a trifle maliciously, “you had to go in order to make room for them.” “ True,” retorted the hoop-skirt ; “but you had to go"—— « Excuse me," in- terrupted the corset sadly," but it does us no good to indulge in this recrimination. 1 remember when first I attained populari- ty. It was said then that I had come to stay.” The three were mingling their tears, when Dame Fashion groped her way through the attic to them. «Here they are!” shecried. “ Just what I want for next sea- son.” «Hos of the ¢ fessor. «Wel + is alway had tor ton Sta class of «He cinnati Charg strengthe tropics, tura Bit appetize The will len “Ler the mat to pay i and Ti Gitiz a job in May Citis anythin Chicag Throug yo One si mi Be sur Before comicbooks.com