Judge — August 8, 1925 — page 6: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Paul Poiret Takes a Swim" This satirical comic strips Paul Poiret, the famous French fashion designer, attempting to swim while wearing one of his own extremely restrictive designs—a barrel-like garment labeled "DEFENSE A NAGER!" (Defense Against Swimming). The joke mocks Poiret's notoriously impractical haute couture silhouettes, which prioritized artistic vision over wearability. His designs, especially during the 1910s, were so constrictive they literally prevented normal movement and activities like swimming. The bottom panel shows people in barrel costumes, suggesting his fashion enslaves wearers. The satire criticizes how high fashion prioritizes appearance over function, rendering women immobilized in his designs—a commentary on both fashion excess and women's restricted mobility in early 20th-century society.