Shoulders Square, from the Parasol Drills series (N18) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands 1888

Curator: I am so captivated by the rigid constraints implied in "Shoulders Square," one of Allen & Ginter's cards from the "Parasol Drills" series dating back to 1888. This particular piece currently resides here at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. What are your initial impressions? Editor: Well, beyond its being an advertisement for cigarettes, what strikes me first is its overall stiffness. It feels incredibly posed and deliberate. I’d almost say… suffocating? There's something so rigidly composed, particularly in how she’s holding the parasol itself – it's like a visual handcuff! Curator: Precisely. It's like an artifact that exposes not just a fashion, but also the implicit societal expectations, don’t you think? Notice how the vertical stripes of her vest mirror the ramrod-straight posture— almost mimicking bars. The way those colors intermingle to construct this stiff corset with pinks, greens and blues seems strange at first, and then you recognize the strange constraint involved. Editor: Absolutely, there is a strange sense of entrapment within beauty, and the corsetry, the immaculate headdress - all of it reads as incredibly constructed. Thinking more broadly, the whole series must comment on women’s fashion or the expected composure of Victorian women, perhaps? Curator: Allen & Ginter produced so many of these collectible cards that captured glimpses of contemporary life. Seeing these drills depicted on such fragile paper it's as though societal trends— the literal fashions and cultural obsessions -- risk tearing. Editor: A fitting reminder of how what seems fixed can crumble or be re-evaluated later. "Shoulders Square" speaks volumes with its quiet, confined stance.