Life, 1915-06-03 · page 37 of 52
Life — June 3, 1915 — page 37: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **Gillette Safety Razor advertisement**, not satire. It targets fashionable women by exploiting fashion anxiety. The ad links two things: (1) current fashion trends requiring sleeveless and sheer-sleeved evening gowns that expose the underarm, and (2) a supposed beauty requirement that underarms "must be as smooth as the face." By framing underarm hair removal as a fashion necessity rather than optional grooming, Gillette created demand for their new "Milady Decolleté" razor—a luxury item ($5, in a gold-plated French ivory case) marketed as essential for fashionable women. The illustration shows an elegant woman in the sleeveless gowns the ad describes, visually demonstrating why the product is supposedly "needed." This represents early **consumer marketing that manufactured desire** by connecting products to social status and fashion compliance—a technique still used today.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A ee ie eS Be Reguest Malady Dooolleté Gillette Fashion Says— Evening gowns must be sleeveless, or made with the merest suggestion of gauzy sleeves of tulle or lace. After- noon gowns are made with semi-transparent yokes and sleeves. Separate borices are fashioned of sheer materials. The Woman of Fashion Says— The underarm must be as smooth as the face. The Gillette Razor Co. Announces— The safest and most sanitary method of obtaining this result by the use of Milady Decolleté Gillette. A special model as a toilet accessory for the woman of fashion—brought out after numerous requests from the leading summer and winter resorts and all the metropolitan fashion centers. OF dainty size, in 14-K gold plate, enclosed in velvet- and satin-lined French Ivory case, Milady Decolleté Gil- lette is a most attract- ive toilet article. It will be found with the toilet goods in depart- ment stores, also in jewelry and drug stores and the foremost woman's specialty shops. The price is $5, For full particulars about Milady Decolleté Gillette and its use, write us direct GILLETTE SAFETY RAZOR COMPANY, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS