The Wasp — 1876 — page 141: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This satirical illustration from *The Wasp* (November 21, 1876) mocks the exaggerated fashions of the era. The cartoon depicts elegantly dressed women in absurdly extreme silhouettes—featuring dramatically exaggerated bustles, narrow waists, and towering headdresses. The figures are rendered as caricatures to emphasize how ridiculous these fashions appear. The satire targets the impracticality and physical distortion caused by Victorian women's clothing, particularly the bustle (the protruding rear extension visible on several figures). By showing women as almost grotesquely shaped by their garments, the cartoonist critiques both the fashion industry's demands and women's participation in wearing such constraining, health-hazardous styles. The title underscores the foolishness of pursuing fashionable appearance over comfort or reason.