Life, 1928-05-03 · page 27 of 46
Life — May 3, 1928 — page 27: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a satirical fashion piece mocking both haute couture pretension and women's health complaints. The illustration by Baron de Zeyer shows a fashionably dressed woman in an exaggerated, theatrical pose—likely meant to represent a hypochondriac displaying her "designer illness." The article parodies *Harper's Bazaar* by suggesting that fashionable Parisian couturiers now design clothes that *match* a woman's ailments rather than conceal them. The satire targets: 1. **Fashion snobbery**: The excessive use of French terms (robes de style, modes des malades, neurastheniques) 2. **Women's health complaints**: The running joke that women constantly suffer from ailments 3. **Consumer culture**: The implication that women will buy clothes based on whatever sickness they claim to have The editorial asides (especially the printer's notes complaining about translating French phrases) add meta-humor about Life magazine's own editorial frustrations. The final joke—redirecting readers to furniture advertisements—undercuts the whole piece as parody of advertising culture itself.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
With Apologies to HARPER'S BAZAR BY Baron cle Leyer PETIT DEJEUNER A symphony in brown Boulognie with mustard for milady who sleeps late and eats hearty. From Maison Goufy. SMART CLOTHES FOR SMART AILMENTS The Ill Dressed Woman Selects Her Ether Apparel Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes, Point d’Esprit, Zut, Alors, France. O be truly smart these days, one’s décor must match one’s ailment. C’est a dire (that is by way of saying) ove who is suffering from internal troub such as heart- turn, torpid liver or other complaints of women (and how any complaints of women are heard in this workaday world, to be sure!) In short, Madame de la Mode (Mrs. of the mode), when ill, expresses her symptoms in her robes de style. (Note to Printer: Look up English equivalent of “robes de style” and fill in same here.) To sum up, Madame is ill dressed. For example (par exemple), at Biarritz—or was it Bay City?—Iast season there was an utterly charming young Yoman with a slight attack of Delirium Tremens (unusually large delirium) who ruined the whole effect of her malady ¥ wearing long white kid gloves of the premier Empire type. Needless to say, the young woman in question was the vic- tim of much innocent badinage (razzing). In former years, but little attention was paid to ailments by the grandes coutures (now listen: we're getting pretty damned sick of having to translate all these French words that the Baron strews around in his copy. It’s trouble enough having to draw lines under them to show that they're to be printed in italic. Hereafter, you, dear reader, can translate them for yourself, and to hell with you). To con- tinue—the grandes coutures were content to concentrate only on the more obvious of the ailments—appendicitis, spots before the eyes, diseases of the scalp and what not. This year, however, modes des malades in the “Inner Circle” (Trade-Mark—Copyright) have ac! d great im- portance and such distinguished houses as Dégoit, Gaga, Ma- dame Coucou and Maison Goufy are featuring in their spring openings various robes neurastheniques (gargle that one). And now—mes amis trans-atlantiques—please turn to page 146 of the advertising section, where you will be told that the society leaders of America and the crowned heads of Europe are absolutely enchanté with Simmons Beds. comicbooks.com