Life — May 25, 1916 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is a humorous fashion illustration page from *Life* magazine (May 23, 1916) satirizing women's elaborate hat designs of the era. The caption "Everything for the Garden" is ironic—these extravagant hats aren't practical garden wear but rather fashionable creations featuring absurd decorations. The designs show hats adorned with oversized sunflowers, onions in baskets, corn husks, large bows, and pointed shapes—literally garden vegetables and plants as millinery ornaments. Small hat boxes labeled with produce items fill the margins. The satire mocks the era's exaggerated fashion trends, particularly the impractical nature of women's millinery that incorporated enormous, decorative elements. It's commentary on how far removed haute couture had become from functional clothing, even when allegedly "garden-themed."