Life, 1919-04-03 · page 19 of 60
Life — April 3, 1919 — page 19: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a satirical fashion commentary mocking wealthy society women and their absurd clothing choices. Each illustration caricatures a named socialite wearing ridiculously impractical or nonsensical garments: - Mrs. Montclair Pelham wears a lavender gown "accented by baby war bonds" — likely mocking both frivolous fashion and superficial patriotism during wartime - Mrs. Van Hectic Hoshow's outfit features "dolce far niente" (sweet idleness), satirizing pretentious Italian phrases - Peggy Duffington's dress uses "blotting paper" with "rubies and cocktail cherries" — absurdly combining office supplies with luxury - Mrs. Skippington Skads wears "colonial wall-paper smothered in orchid sauce" The humor targets the pretentious, name-dropping world of high society fashion, where wealthy women adopt elaborate, impractical, and occasionally nonsensical styles as status symbols. The exaggerated illustrations and ridiculous material descriptions expose the gap between fashion's claimed sophistication and its actual absurdity.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“LIFE: Society as Seen by the Fashion Artists r™ Mrs. Van Hectic Hos- show was scen in a crea- tion of jot cambric with insertions of dolce Mrs. Montclair Pelham far niente. was simply attired in a ~. Yas / . chic: gown, of lavender q “ry crepe de chine accentu- . ated by baby war bonds. oe: rs (6 *4 P Ay os t g si Peggy Pi ly frock of black blot ting paper tucked in rubies and cocktail cherries? Lalla, the charming daughter of Mrs, Skippington Skads, was Entirely enchantiig Was dclightfui ina peignoir of Colo this Oriental orape, oe) 16 nial wall-paper smothered in motif and elan, worn. by nial walla Mrs, “ Wiggly * Wobble- ton, comicbooks.com