Life — July 21, 1927 — page 10: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Styles and Stiles" - Life Magazine Illustration This page features humorous equestrian illustrations by Arthur Guiterman, satirizing women's horseback riding fashions and techniques of the era. The sketches depict women attempting various riding styles over fences and obstacles, with exaggerated, awkward postures. The text mocks the challenges women faced in riding while wearing the restrictive clothing and undergarments required by Victorian/early 20th-century fashion—particularly the voluminous skirts, corsets, and bustles visible in the drawings. The humor derives from the impracticality of these garments for athletic pursuits like jumping fences and managing ruffles and "farthingales." The final quote about "hoopskirk falls" and unpredictable landings pokes fun at the fundamental incompatibility between fashionable dress and functional horsemanship for women.