Life, 1923-09-13 · page 11 of 36
Life — September 13, 1923 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes 1920s women's fashion, specifically the wearing of fur garments. Six illustrated figures display different fur styles with accompanying commentary on each. The satire targets the extravagance and pretension of fur fashion among wealthy women. Each caption mockingly describes a fur type—ranging from "saucy manteau" to "Alaskan Chippet"—with tongue-in-cheek language about warmth, elegance, and status. The humor lies in exposing how fur-wearing was simultaneously impractical (some furs are too heavy or awkwardly shaped) yet socially prized as a luxury status symbol. The exaggerated body shapes of the illustrated women further ridicule the fashion's vanity. This reflects broader 1920s satire of women's consumer culture and the arbitrary nature of fashion trends during the Jazz Age.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
September 13 © acme of insouciance is ex- by this saucy manteau of Siberian Titmouse, which ves to her that wears it a unique esprit de corpulence For the jeune fille no fur is so daisitily appropriate as the Ring- tai'cd Rhinoceros, which falls info natural folds and leaves the waist line to conjecture No pelt is more pelted than the luxuriant Newark Opossum. As a stole it may be worn about the neck, where it gives atmos- bhere, or left in the taxicab WHAT FURP Much prised by the réchauffée is the rare fur of the Alaskan Chippet, which will keep the wearer warm under the coldest stares There is snug satisfaction for the proud possessor of this cloak of Silver Spink from far-off Thibet—a fur that has been used for centuries by the monks of that region in place of the hair shirt de rigueur “Tails you lose” is the pretty thought conveyed by the many- tasseled Tasmanian Trivet, im- parting a Spirituelle clutter that ts distinctly waggish comicbooks.com