Life, 1911-08-24 · page 12 of 40
Life — August 24, 1911 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This cartoon satirizes women's fashions and behavior at upscale roof gardens—popular summer entertainment venues in early 20th-century cities. The sketch depicts women in elaborate hats and clothing, engaged in flirtation and socializing. The accompanying text offers tongue-in-cheek advice to women: maintain your figure through diet ("never eat more than four meals a day"), avoid stripes in clothing, and remember that military and navy officers don't judge women by age or weight. The satire targets middle-class women's fashion obsessions and their pursuit of romantic attention from servicemen. The second illustration reinforces this theme, captioning that officers "never consider age or weight"—mocking women's anxieties about appearance and their social ambitions.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
KOOF GARDEN COLPFUKES be likely to show the most; thus we keep you right up to date. During the warm weather we keep all of our reproductions in refrigerated compartments, so there is no danger of loss. This idea has so many advantages that it is almost impossible to enumerate them all at once. With an ab- solutely accurate reproduction of your figure in our re- frigerating plant we can fill an order sent from any part of the world, and we can fill it complete, with noth- ing missing, from a black court-plaster beauty spot to an aviation ulster. Then, again, the effect of sceing themselves as they actually are has a fine effect upon our patrons. When one of our presumably handsomest customers looked for the first time the other day on her own reproduction in wax she fainted away. Since then she has been a different woman. It has made her humbler and bet- ter in every way By this method our customers can tell from time to time whether or not they are holding their own, Our customers should remember that there is no actual cause for alarm in having a wax reproduction made of them- selves, just because when they see it, it doesn't come up to expectations. This is after all only a basis. Our art con- sists in making such creations in fabric as will bring out the individual charm of each individual. And this is where we excel every one else in the known world. We have several combination wardrobes, which after you have deposited your wax fac-simile with us, we can supply by number. Full list sent on application. Wardrobe number one, for example, is for the fall. It consists of everything complete, including three walking suits, three evening gowns, four reception gowns, ten hats, and, in fact, a wardrobe such as nobody ought to be ashamed of, and all for eighteen thousand four hundred dollars and eighty- nine cents. We urge everybody not to delay, but to order fac-similes at once. Applications taken one month in advance. Price depends somewhat on your weight and the amount of wax used, but the average is about fifteen hundred dollars. Changes in figure made at nominal prices. This summer we are confronted with problem af how middle-aged ladies can themselves fascinating to the men Our roof-garden costume, mentioned early’ in this article, is only one of many we are placiig before the American public Health is at the bottom of it all. Every woman over fifty should keep to the following programme : Never eat more than four meals a day. Never play auction bridge more than two hours a day, unless you stand up. After dinner standing-up auction is en regle in some of our more exclusive circles. It aids digestion and does not add to the waist line. Remember, that you can always flirt with an army or navy officer, no matter whether they are married or not. They never consider age or weight. Never wear stripes. They only make you look worse. Array yourself in polka-dots, éta- mine and soft lingerie effects. YOU CAN ALWAYS FLIRT WITIE AN ARMY OK NAVY OFFICER. THEY NEVER CONSIDER AGE OR weIcnT" One of our most effective costumes for middle-aged ladies to wear at Narraganset or Newport is made of red plush balls, strung on a corded silk fish net, with a light band of black velvet, and gold revers over Irish lace. The feet are strung with pearls and elephants’ breath pumps of cream-col- ored satin, and the head has on a tocque of ostrich plumes. If worn in the water this costume will, of course, have to be renewed from time to time, but it will pay to have it. All the young men are crazy about it. They know that only a woman of experience could wear it. Lire’s Feshion Reform League. A Poor Reason HEN there were so many good reasons—the public re- lief, his own protection and many more—for putting Mr. Upton Sinclair in jail, it seems a pity to have him go there for such an absurd reason as playing tennis on Sunday in Delaware! To be sure he got an excellent advertisement and had it fairly thrust upon him, comicbooks.com