Choosing Models

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31654, 15 April 1968, Page 2

Choosing Models

LONDON. Many would-be models write to me every week for advice. They all ask the same question: “How can I be a top model?” says Norman Hartnell, the Queen's dressmaker. When a girl turns up to see me, we parade her callously up and down the salon and stare at her as though she was a performing animal in a circus. My “directrice de salon” asks personal questions and judges her vital statistics. I study her mirrored reflection. I want poise, a nice silhouette, and a good walk. If she has these three things, she most likely has distinction, too. I once said that many duchesses would like to look like my model girls, and it is true. People mistakenly assume that a model has to be pretty, but this is not so. Pretty faces are the least essential. With modern cosmetics, a good model can make herself attractive, and individually outstanding. Model girls are to a designer what actress are to a playwright Model girls bring delight or despair to a signer what actresses are to a ruin, his clothes, by the way they interpret them.