Life, 1913-02-13 · page 42 of 44
Life — February 13, 1913 — page 42: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **not a cartoon or satire**—it's a **Vogue advertisement disguised as editorial content** in *Life* magazine. The page promotes Vogue's upcoming "five great Spring Fashion numbers" (special issues). The pitch exploits a genuine consumer anxiety: the fear of buying expensive clothes that don't work or miss the mark. The ad emphasizes Vogue's claimed authority in "forecasting" fashions through European correspondents and prominent women patrons. The satire here is *implicit*—*Life* magazine (which was genuinely satirical) is running what appears to be editorial praise for Vogue, but it's actually paid advertising. The irony: Vogue claims to prevent costly fashion mistakes, yet the very act of following fashion forecasts typically *requires* spending on trendy items. A coupon on the left side (partially visible) appears to solicit subscriptions. The underlying message: don't trust your own judgment; consult Vogue's experts to avoid wasting money—which means buying *their* magazine.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Before spending a single penny on new clothes, before even planning your Spring wardrobe, consult Vogue’s five great Spring Fashion numbers! From now on they follow, one after another, beginning with the FORECAST OF SPRING FASHIONS (NOW On the opposite page you will find a reproduction of its cover; on the news- stands you will find the number itself— 124 pages full of exactly the clothes sug- gestions you want most. Of all Vogue's claims to distinction, the greatest, perhaps, is its ability—univer- sally recognized—to forecast the fashions. In every issue appear drawings represent- ing not the styles of Yesterday, nor even of Today, but wonderfully accurate pre- sentiments of the styles of Tomorrow. With resident correspondents in the Euro- ON SALE) pean capitals, with a splendidly select staff of editors in New York, with the patronage of the prominent women in every city of America, Vogue's fashion pronouncements are authority itself! And every resource, every bit of skill, energy, experience, has been turned into making the next five numbers more complete, more authoritative than ever before! In the next ten weeks—the very period in which these five Spring Fashion num- bers of Vogue appear—you will be plan- ning your Spring wardrobe and spending hundreds of dollars carrying out the plans. Once more you will face the fact that the gown you buy and never wear is the expensive gown, that the gloves, hats, boots, that just miss being exactly what you want are the ones that cost _more than you can afford! Why take any such chances this Spring when by using this coupon you can get valuable suggestions, avoid costly mistakes and INSURE the cor- %, %.. rectness of your new clothes? 350 comicbooks.com