Life — November 3, 1921 — page 23: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This illustration by Albert Sterner depicts two women in an early 20th-century satirical sketch. The seated woman applies makeup while gazing at her reflection, appearing absorbed in vanity. The standing woman displays an exaggerated, towering hairstyle characteristic of the Edwardian era—a style satirized as impractical and ridiculous. The cartoon mocks the extremes of female fashion and beauty practices of the period, particularly the elaborate pompadour hairstyles and heavy cosmetics that were fashionable. The title "The Heights of Folly" puns on the literal height of the standing woman's hair while criticizing women's devotion to beauty standards as foolish vanity. This reflects common satirical themes in *Life* magazine about the supposed superficiality of feminine concerns, typical of period humor that often mocked women's fashion choices.