The Wasp — 1895 — page 851: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page contains satirical commentary on women's fashion, specifically the "Gibson Girl" aesthetic and the "be-puffed Modern Sleeve" — an exaggerated shoulder silhouette popular in the 1890s-early 1900s. **"Latest Fashionable Nuisance"** mocks the enormous puffed sleeves, with the poet "The Foolkiller" complaining they obstruct theater views and represent an absurd fashion excess. The accompanying illustration shows a woman with grotesquely oversized sleeves. **"A Curious Crowd"** describes women gathering at a photographer's gallery—likely a wedding announcement scenario satirizing the social obsession with society photography and fashion display. The page also includes period advertisements and a dialogue sketch ("The Wife," "There Were Others") typical of *The Wasp*'s humor format. The overall theme ridicules women's fashion extravagance and society's preoccupation with appearances.