Life, 1927-05-12 · page 7 of 43
Life — May 12, 1927 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes 1920s women's fashion and beauty culture. The top section features "The Venus de Milo of the Advertisements"—a mockery of how fashion advertisements present women as idealized objects. The text ironically catalogs the elaborate grooming regimen required: permanent waves, silk undergarments, makeup lasting "nine hours," special soaps, and hair treatments. The cartoons below mock contemporary social commentary. "From All Angles" presents editorial banter about a "Sash-Waite trial" (likely a reference to a contemporary scandal or court case, unclear from context) and satirizes different perspectives on modern topics. The overall thrust: Life ridicules how advertising creates impossible beauty standards while simultaneously mocking serious social debates, suggesting both are equally superficial preoccupations of the era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
h Vii One of Three Vogue Girls: Out on the golf course this afternoon Eric told me to use my brassie.... Either of the Other Two: Well? The Original Speaker: Well, my dear, you can picture my embarrass- ment! I had to tell him that I didn’t have one on! (Note: The three models to the left are rough and ready modes and are dis- tinctive in that they call for no buttons.) ‘Che Venus de Milo of the Advertisements HE is trim and slender, with glowing cheeks, health you stop to look at, a subtle note of youth, and a personal daintiness that is instantly sensed, an all- day make-up that lasts nine hours, a distinctive sil- houette, creamy velvety shoulders, a neck whitened almost overnight, a nose reshaped to beautiful propor- tions, and teeth of pearly whiteness, tantalizing lips reddened with kissproof lipstick, eyes made deep and mysterious by a harmless liquid easily applied with a brush, toiletries that enhance her brilliance, lovely oval- shaped fingernails, the fashionable half-moons, and the gift from Yrance of a smooth skin cleansed of all im- purities without water and kept soft and pliable with a jar of patent cold cream and the toilet soap that has cap- tured America, She has regained her nat- ural weight, will never wash her face again, is accustomed to every luxury and chooses her age and guards against facial fatigue for her head contour has been remolded at New York’s most exclu- sive beauty salon with the treatment so long enjoyed by the European haut monde, and her blonde hair requires special care, is shampooed as the movie stars do it to bring out that wonderful gloss and sheen so much desired in the @ Celeste: Why have you decided to get married? perfect permanent wave and the bob most suited to her style, but although she knows the importance of proper figure support and is usually clad only in t of glove- silk underthings designed for activity and silk stockings with ankles that create an illusion of slenderness, with loveliness in ¢' line, she is not much to look at but seems to be satisfied with being smart for every occasion. W. W. Scott. From SAL Angles DITOR-IN-CHIEF: We're all ready for the big Sash-Waite trial now. Prof. Jungfreud will write of it from a psychological standpoint and in addition we're sending a minister, a congressman, two play wrights and three novelis But I wish we could do something original, some- thing different from what the other papers are doing. Have you any suggestions? Crry Eprror: Well, you might try sending a re- porter. TRANGE it is that most of the red-hot mammas have never been near a stove. Clothilde: Because I like nice things. comicbooks.com