Life — September 9, 1920 — page 16: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is a single-panel cartoon satirizing fashion and marital dynamics. A man sits at a piano while a woman stands nearby in an elegant gown. The caption reads: "My dear, did you notice how Miss Wise was dressed?" with the man's response: "She had a hat with one of these what-ye-call-its on the side and a thingummy trimmed with you know what I mean." The humor targets how men (particularly husbands) remain oblivious or indifferent to women's fashion details, despite women's evident concern with such matters. The man's vague language ("what-ye-call-its," "thingummy," "you know what I mean") demonstrates his complete disinterest in or incomprehension of millinery trends—a common early-20th-century satirical subject. The joke reflects period gender stereotypes about women's fashion obsession versus masculine indifference.