Life, 1912-04-04 · page 25 of 80
Life — April 4, 1912 — page 25: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes the fashion industry's excess and pretension, particularly targeting wealthy consumers. The main article describes an absurdly expensive "Narragansett wardrobe" for teenage girls costing $10,000, featuring impractical items like a bathing suit made of solid silver spangles that requires a life preserver due to its weight. The satire mocks both the designer's grandiose claims ("America for the Americans. We lead the world") and the vanity of wealthy families seeking elaborate summer resort wardrobes. The page includes two separate comic dialogues: one about smoking etiquette (a social hypocrisy joke) and another about insects, unrelated to the fashion content. The central image shows a woman in classical dress, likely representing "Fashion" or artistic taste being courted by wealth/commerce, reinforcing the critique that fashion design has become disconnected from practicality and serves only the ultra-wealthy.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“1 NEVER SMOKE EXCEPT IN MY OWN ROOM” for two hours, they will say nothing 10 commit themselves. While this ems to be a little bit out of our line, tis really only a part of our general cheme, which is to re-create the man- vers and the appearance of the whole people. We might say that we have no con- nection with any department store. I OFTEN SMOKE WHEN I’M OUT, BUT IT’S ALWAYS FOR THE FIRST TIME!” We import our own raw material and design our costumes strictly for American wear—except in a few cases of monarchs who insist upon our serv- ing them privately. Now is the time when families should be fitted out for next summer. We furnish a series of combinations to be worn at summer resorts. Our 689 Narragansett wardrobe, de- signed for young girls of sixteen and seventeen, could easily be placed in eight trunks, and practically guaran- tees a change of clothes every hour, without duplication, for four weeks. We are selling this wardrobe for only ten thousand dollars, which includes shirtwaists, parasols and a new bath- g suit for cach day, One of our late designs in bathing suits i of solid silver spangles woven in Renaissance style to fit the figure. It has the unique advantage of being rustless and non-shrinkable, but needs to be worn with a life preserver on account of its weight. In one of our parlors in Lire Park (formerly Central) we have a real beach, so that ladies who desire to try on bathing costumes can do so under the most artistic conditions. They have simply to put on some of our latest designs and sit down on the beach; and as our parlors face Fifth avenue, they can easily see whether their costumes attract the crowd or special made not, Remember, that our motto is, Amer- ica for the Americans, We lead the world Life’s Fashion Reform League. GNES: And did he say I looked intellectual ? Guavys: Oh, no, indeed! T you he said nothing disparaging assure “700 mab! 1 AM QUITE CERTAIN, HOWEVER, HE 1S ONE OF TUE BUGS MOTHER MENTIONED AS BEING UNFIT For Foon”