The Wasp — 1895 — page 624: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page satirizes the "New Woman" of the 1890s, particularly those adopting bloomers and bicycling—radical fashion choices challenging Victorian conventions. **"Bloomers"** poem (top left) mocks women in bloomer outfits. It jokes that these garments, initially shocking, eventually become normalized fashion, comparing the cycle to past clothing trends. The accompanying illustration shows a woman in bloomers with puffy sleeves—the period's modern dress. **"Bloomers Made Her Brave"** (bottom) depicts a woman on a ladder, suggesting that wearing bloomers gave women confidence to do previously "unladylike" activities. **"La Bicyclette"** (right) shows a fashionable woman on a bicycle—another symbol of female independence that horrified conservatives. The satire targets anxieties about women's liberation and changing social roles during this era.