Life — August 29, 1895 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "The Voice of Modesty" - Life Magazine, August 29, 1895 This cartoon satirizes the controversy over women's bloomers, a relatively new and scandalous garment in the 1890s. The illustration shows a young woman wearing bloomers (loose, baggy pants) speaking with a male cyclist. The caption reads: "How can you face your Sunday school class after wearing those horrid bloomers!" The joke targets Victorian hypocrisy around modesty. While bloomers were practical for cycling (a newly popular activity for women), conservative society condemned them as immodest and unfeminine. The cartoon mocks this contradiction—suggesting that wearing practical athletic wear somehow compromises one's moral standing or social respectability, particularly for women involved in religious instruction.