CULT OF BEAUTY.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 23, 28 January 1928, Page 4 (Supplement)

CULT OF BEAUTY.

EXERCISE FOR GRACE.

HOW TO KEEP SUM

(By a Paris Beauty Specialist.)

PARIS, September 14,

I am possessed this week by a sense of the importance of Deportment. It is all very well to have beautiful clothes, but unless a woman knows how to carry them she wastes her money. Even the saints encouraged good manners, and good manners usually mean graceful ways of sitting, walking, and standing; thus it is not all vanity which suggests that women who buy nice clothes should learn how to wear them beautifully.

Such things count more than a pretty face in France. To move nicely, to have pretty gestures, to sit gracefully, make second-rate clothes look first-rate, and to see women fail in these things, when wearing a masterpiece, by no matter whom, is enough to make the artist who designed it die of despair. The matter-of-fact, sport-loving girl of to-day may smile as she will at the old-fashioned school mistress who used to teach her pupils how to get in and out of a carriage, to bow to an acquaintance, to walk

in and out of a room, to sito down on a chair with grace, and so on. There is, however, something to be said for it. x Exercise. j; Exercise in any form, whether it be gymnastics, dancing, playing golf, or walking, is the great cure for any undue disposition of fat. Constant movement, as a matter of fact. There is no better Way of keeping in trim than to dance. I would father dance than eat, or love, or Work, or do anything else in the world. Speaking personally, "tripping the light fantastic" does me more good physically than any tonic ever invented by a hardup doctor. Dancing exercises every muscles in the body, and teaches control of the "body as nothing else can. Those Who have danced long and often can make their body do anything they want it to do. They control it. It does not control them, as is the case with most Women. I don't advise you readers, though,"to spend all your time dancing. Out 'of door exercise should play an important pari - in your daily life. Play tpo,_and golf whenever you get a chance., *fhere is nothing so delightful as a brisk country walk, and if you have your own car I am sure you think that speed'laws are the greatest provocation invented by man. I simply adore to put my foot on the accelerator! and see if the man who sold me the car. and told me I could get 120 a la Heure out of it, is a truthful man. v Fencing for Women. Next to'dancing, one 6t the greatest beauty exercises for women is fencing. As an-indoor winter sport fencing is hard to beat. It is especially suitable for women/for the foil is a light and delicate

weapon. Fencing makes for grace and agility rather than for heavy muscles. Strength is of little use to the fencer, And stamina is greatly developed. Habits of alertness are acquired by the fencer, and quick, accurate which can be taken into daily life with the happiest results. The Cult of Slimness. For women, at all events, it seems to me, embonpoint is the arch enemy today, especially when couturieres and painters combine to insist on the flesliless figure. Caught between her vanity and gourmandise, the modern woman is threading a thorny path, and many are martyrs, to the new beauty cult. Alone, they never could achieve their object, so they besiege the doctor, who is said to work wonders, and obey his orders implicitly. His consulting room is filled with society beauties, actresses, film stars, dancers, all waging war on their "too, too solid flesh." Pitilessly, Dr. X. cuts off cocktails in the morning, cakes for afternoon tea, and the : sacrifices imposed a£ lunch are beyond belief. Sipping their mineral water, and scowling at the sandwiches, wotnen exchange weights and prospects. "I shall soon be a skeleton," says Antoinette. "I have lost 81b in a fortnight, and by the end of the month will be eight kilogs, I expect." If the craze continues, the drawings of the future will be peopled by shadows in flimsy dresses,' like the phantom women in cardboard used by the drapers to-day to display their latest models.

Late Hours. You can't have a 10 o'clock complexion if you go to bed at three. Late hours are very jolly, but they do take their toll. The next morning brings a frown, perhaps, but certainly wrinkles, and tired little lines under the eyes. Don't worry, try to go to bed a little earlier, sleep a little later in the - morning, keep your windows wide open, and be discreet in your diet. Although I consider dieting as important to health, as I do exercise, probably these women who go in for the latter to any great extent don't have to worry much about the food they eat. Constant exercise, and good exercise makes you digest almost anything. Personally I never over-eat. And in France one's breakfast consists ~of "croissant " a cup of coffee or tea, and sometimes a little fruit is added to it. Lunch is also not a heavy meal, and a salad always forms a part of it. The less meat vou eat the better you -drill certainly "be. Although it is permissible to have it twice a day on your menu, be pretty careful about balancing -the amount of sweets and starches. Cold Water and Cold Cream. lam a great believer in cold water. I believe in a warm bath every morning and a shower afterwards,* first lukewarm, then ice-cold. A cold water facewash every morning is miles better than any of the million-odd beauty creams and lotions which women are lured into buying by the specialists. When I find a good cold cream I stick to it, and it would take a mighty strong argument to make me give it up for some other "perfectly marvellous" brand which my friends are always telling, me about.