WOMAN'S MOST ATTRACTIVE AGE.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 13231, 26 September 1908, Page 7

WOMAN'S MOST ATTRACTIVE AGE.

''When wo speak of the attractiveness of woman, w© really nieair the attractiveness of woman to man, wrote a woman contributor in the $_» Francisco "Call" recently. , "With men tho question of when a woman is most. attractive is_ doubly complicated, because it depends not only on th© woman, but on- tho taste of the man himself. Not many yaara ego, if this question had boon asked, the answer would have been unhesitatingly made that a woman is i most attractive between th© oses of ; rsi-teen. and twenty.' Most of the heroines- of classical fiction aro.mere children. 'Tt must bo confessed that, with, rare exceptions, tho : modern man - prefers something more sophisticatod. than, sweet sixteen, though it is undeniable that tho unintelligent woman is atJior best w,hen ©he. is in her teens./ This is easily nnderstood> • "Almost all young . creatures are bevmtifur, and heaven gives to even, the homeliest woman a. day of grace between sixteen and: eighteen when she V 9 pretty with,the prettinesß of fresh cheeks, nnd-dewy eyes, and glossy hair. "Twenty-threo is an ideal timo o the clock for. tho woman of averageintdligenlbe and good looks, unless sho happen to bo college-bred. »• If sh© has had the misfortune- of '-cqurring- tho higher educ_tiou,-_he" is still top-heavy with .learning and self-esteem. oyer having discovered tho. ancient greeks and Romans, 1 and it requires ten years, more fo?: her to find out that; ■, for a woman to be thoroughly charming, she should have had a-good education, and forgotten-it. -' '■.'-:'■ :■"■■-,:'": "For tho ordinary woman, however, no ago is mcro attfactive than, .twentythroe. Sho is in- tho first flush of having just arrived. Tho-Krn promise- of girlhood have been realised in the full beauty of womanhood. She stilL'has illiisiona, but they' aro not delusions. She,still is innocent, but no., longer ignorant. " . . ''>;.'.. ■ "Her intercourse with the-opposite sex has a frankness and comradeship that is not the least of _ her charms. She seems so safG"that she is deadly dangerous; statistics show that more women marry at twenty-threo than at any other age . - .- • ■ ■ ■ ,- .' " "The bachelor wonian is at her best at thirty, becauM- she is consciously charming. She has all the advantages with which nature originally equippM her, an- she has - added to them tho frills and furbelows of art. She has learned to enhance her good looks by better dressing, and to. put; a red shade on tho lamp, and sit with ' her back to tho light. Bh© has also learned how to talk, and, better still, how to bo a fascinating listener. - . "At thirty-five the extremely, clever woman reaches tho summit of her'fascination. The woman who has more brains than heart 'is never more dangerous than then,-for she has taken the measure of mankind, and plays upon its weaknesses as upon o harp with a thousand strings "