CULT OF BEAUTY.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 29, 4 February 1928, Page 4 (Supplement)

CULT OF BEAUTY.

CURVES FOR CHARM.

LOUNGE IN A BEAUTIFUL LINE,

By a PARIS Bi tJTY SPECIALIST.)

Angles and curves! Does that sound

like a problem in higher mathematics? It's far more than that. It's a problem in feminine beauty.

Do you realise that when you say a woman is angular you have gone immediately to the basis of her troubles ? You may liave thought of it just that way, perhaps, but visualise just for a moment an angular woman. She is too thin, isn't she? She stands awkwardly, doesn't she? Or sits down all iu a lump? She seems to have too many elbows, she's a terrible combination of angles. Of course, you never think of the woman without angles as being curved, and yet she is, isn't she? Angles or curves? Angles for awkwardness, curves for grace.

A straight line is always good. You can't conceive of a straight line as being awkward, now can you? Therefore, in standing, remember that as long as you hold yourself erect, and give the impression of a straight line, you cannot be awkward. It is when your hands or feet stick out from the line in silhouette that your awkwardness begins.

Of course, even in standing straight, as well as when you are in any other position, you must remember to relax your muscles. If you stand with your muslces taut you will look wooden and stiff. Stand straight, but let your hands hang

gracefully at your sides, keep your head up, your shoulders back. You are graceful then. You can continue to be graceful in all your movements if you will.

Of course, too many curves are awkward. The too fat woman who seems to consist of three spheres, one placed upon the other, the head as the first sphere, is certainly no object of beauty. Yet on the whole curves are always more grace-

ful than angles. A woman who is fat—if her fat is not excessive—has far more chances to be graceful than the woman who is too thin. The too-thin woman can look graceful if she will remember to be in curves instead of angles.

There is one exception to the curve. That exception is the backbone. The curved backbone, the "round shoulder," is never graceful. Keep your backbone straight and your head a trifle raised always, for grace. Even when you relax you need not get too decided a curve in your backbone. If you are past your first youth you will find that you look years younger with your head raised a trifle. That takes away the first signs of lines of the double chin. Even if you are young the raised head gives you a pleasant grace and adds an appearance of dignity that is always good.

You May Cross Your Legs if You Like,

It used to be considered fearfully vulgar for a woman to croSte her legs in company. In Paris many French women who look for grace never cross their legs. But, as a matter of fact, the ban has been lifted to-day even in Paris. You may cross your legs if you like, but do not cross them too far. If you do you'll

produce angles instead of eurves. Cross- 1 ing your feet only is usually better than s if your legs were crossed in a higher a position, as the curve is more graceful, v If you do not cross your feet be careful t not to draw your legs under you, unless t you are seated at a table, or you have li produced another ugly angle. Your feet d may look awkward or graceful, not by i: their shape, but by the way you hold I them. If you will remember to keep t yiur feet bent at the ankle, so that your l toes seem to point, you have taken away I an awkward angle from your foot, and <3 have created a pleasing curve instead, s Nothing is so awkward as the foot that 1 is stuck out into the room, the toe tilted 1 up. There is one golden rule to remem- c ber about your feet. Point your toes! I Your hands and your arms make for f grace if they form curves instead of angles. Keep your hands quietly on your lap or at your sides when you are talking. If they lie in your lap, let them lie < with the palms upwards and with the ' fingers prettily curved. Even an ugly < hand will look lovely in this position, 1 while a beautiful hand will look awk- 1 ward and ugly if held clenched or stiff. ' It will take practice to turn angles 1 into curves, but you can do it if you will. 1 The result will surprise you. Watch i yourself in your mirror. Do not be ' satisfied until you know that uncon- < sciously your movements are graceful, ] and that, seen in silhouette, you are a straight line, a series of graceful curves, i but never a mass of angles. 1 Teeth and Their Care. I Every woman appreciates a set of teeth thai are good and even, but many of them are ignorant of how to care for them apart from brushing them daily. This alone is not sufficient to keep the teeth in perfect condition. There are numerous ways of preserving the teeth that can be practised at home. A well-known dentist says that if the mouth were thoroughly washed out at night, and tlus teeth rubbed with very fine precipitated chalk just before retiring, there would not be one case of decayed teeth and receding gums where now there are four. A good mouth-wash —none better the tincture of myrrh. A few drops of it in [ a glass of water is of great value in ' helping to overcome the various mala- " dies to which the mouth is The r teeth should be washed on arising in the 3 morning, after each meal and before 3 retiring. The teeth should be brushed thoroughly, back and front, inside and 0 out, and it is a good plan to use dental ■ floss between each tooth before cleaning ■" them. Where there is any tendency to J acidity, washing the mouth well with s- milk of magnesia every night will do y wonders, as well as preventing decay, r- An excellent antiseptic for preserving le the teeth, as well as to keep the breath sweet, is peroxide of hydrogen. It will also bleach yellow teeth.

OUR ROBUST ANCESTORS.

No doubt the guests at many Royall christenings have been generously entertained, but it is doubtful if things were done quite so lavishly as at an English ceremony of this character in 1682.

The chief actor was the baby of the Rev. Constable, Rector, of Cockley Cley, Norfolk, and in his honour the guests partook of the following:— x A whole hog's head soue'd with carrots In the mouth and pendants in the ear, with guilded oranges thick sett. Two ox's cheeks stewed with six mar-row-bones. A leg of veal, larded with six pullets. A leg of mutton, chine of pork supported by four men, chine of veal. A venison pasty, a great mincedpye. A great fat turkey. . . . A great dish of tarts made all of sweetham with six tongues. . . A jwole of sturgeon. L . . There were other items, but this is feeding. Subsequently, according to record?"the child dy'd, and the funeral expences cam© to Gd.