The Wasp — 1896 — page 860: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This single-panel cartoon depicts a woman in Victorian dress looking modest or embarrassed. The caption reads: "A woman who by wearing does foolish veil? You know you will ruin my pleasant with you modestly." The satire appears to target women's fashion and social conventions of the era. The joke seems to suggest that women who dress "modestly" (with veils or conservative clothing) are actually being foolish or impractical—possibly mocking Victorian prudishness or the disconnect between claimed modesty and social behavior. However, the OCR text is unclear and potentially garbled, making the exact satirical intent difficult to determine with confidence. The cartoon likely comments on contemporary debates about women's fashion, propriety, or hypocrisy regarding modesty during the Gilded Age.