Life — September 13, 1900 — page 10: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Accident to a Young Lady" This appears to be a satirical illustration from *Life* magazine (copyright 1900, per the visible text). The drawing depicts three fashionably dressed women on what looks like a beach or seaside setting. The title "Accident to a Young Lady" suggests social commentary on women's clothing and comportment of the era. The joke likely concerns the woman on the right, whose skirt appears to be caught or blown away, exposing her leg—a scandalous situation in the prudish Edwardian period. The other women's composed reactions suggest this was a known hazard of the voluminous skirts and restrictive clothing fashionable at the time. The satire mocks both the impracticality of women's fashion and society's obsession with propriety.