Feminine Beauty Standards

Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 144, 21 June 1939, Page 14

Feminine Beauty Standards

\VTHAT are the standards of beauty? Is the modem girl stouter or slimmer than her predecessors? Is she the clinging vine or the masterful athlete? Sophisticated or modest? John La Gatta, well-known illustrator and delineator of feminine beauty, does not hesitate to give his opinion on the subject. According to Mr. La Gatta: “She must not be sunburned. Nor freckled. Nor a wizard, nor yet too intelligent. She must have good proportions and—brains. She must be a good listener, but she musn’t listen too much. Once in a while she must say something herself. Above all, she must be feminine.”

sort of woman I think attractive, then you must visualise the ultra-feminine type,” he said. “I think the most important thing for a woman to remember is to remain feminine. That is the greatest, the most valuable and important quality she can possess, although too often she does not realise it and underestimates its importance. To be feminine means to be charming and understanding and sympathetic. “A truly feminine wojnan knows instinctively how to be agreeable to men. She is a good listener, for one thing. But she must not listen too much. I do not mean that she must be a mere earpiece for a man’s monologue. She must not be stupid. She should be a listener, yes, but a vibrant and alert one. She must ask the man intelligent questions. She must even argue a little so as to draw him out, make him see her importance as a confidante, someone who will appreciate him, understand him, sympathise with his problems, share his triumphs. “I have the old-fashioned notion that a man should be the provider and the protector, and. so far as I am concerned, woman should be on a pedestal. The most attractive woman is the one who fulfils her destiny as a woman, the one who is thoroughly and at all times feminine. Primarily Home Builder. “Primarily, woman is supposed to be a home-builder. Without her, man would become slovenly, unrefined, thoroughly unreligious. It is the motherly, the domestic, the dainty woman, who has a feminine attitude toward men and true understanding of her rightful place in their lives. As soon as a woman goes out battling in the economic world she is likely to lose her most attractive feminine qualities.” Reminded that all women were not fortunate enough nowadays to have men who would and could provide them with homes so that they would not have to make their own living out in a hard business world, Mr. La Gatta said: “That’s true enough. If a woman is obliged to work outside the home, that, naturally, is a different matter entirely. But I do think there is no reason why she cannot remain a woman, despite this fact. She can, for one thing, select the more feminine kind of job. Interior decorating, for example, or writing. She can do both of these things in a home setting.

But even then we could not visualise his idea of a real beauty. We persisted and asked for a more explicit formula. Mr. La Gatta ultimately broke down and confessed that he would rather discuss an “interesting or a charming woman” than a merely beautiful one. “I don't think beauty is so important,” he admitted. “My best models have not been particularly beautiful. They were beautifully proportioned, yes. They had lovely figures and poise, and they could pose, could act. could drape themselves gracefully in chairs and look rather well in clothes. But their photogenic qualities were sometimes non-existent. I could never count on them to be photographed. They did not have the classic features.” Reaso. s Given. Mr. La Gatta explained why he preferred intelligence to beauty. “You see," he said, “I prefer interesting, intelligent girls as models because 1 have discovered that so many times the beautiful girl is a poor actress. And in order to be a good model, to understand an artist’s conception of a picture, a girl must be able to act, to delineate character. “I like grace of movement. I have noticed that a great many beautiful girls, who were that and nothing more, have relied so much on their looks to get them by that they made no effort, did not act, did not interpret nor depict the certain kind of girl I had in mind. “I think the most interesting personalities I have ever met among women have not been the most beautiful. Perhaps these women I admired were compensating for their lack of beauty. They realised they did not have it, and so they cultivated charm as a substitute. I find a charming woman ever so much more to my taste than a coldly beautiful one. "The trouble with most beautiful women is that they are conscious of their beauty. The beautiful girl who knows it has something intolerant about her. An arrogant quality that is unpleasant. She manages to make you feel, or tries to make you feel, as if there were great importance attached to her as a person, whereas all that she actually has is something that was a gift, a gift of Nature. She didn't earn it, didn’t achieve it through any outstanding talent, industry, or ability. Personality Tells. “A woman not so beautiful, but who has personality, by comparison with the woman who has beauty and nothing else, is ever so much more attractive. She is not even conscious of whatever good physical attributes she has, and this adds to her charm. “If you really want to know what

“As soon as women start competing with men, they lose their feminine attractiveness. I don’t think that there should be such a thing as competition between men and women in the first place. The two sexes are on earth to help each other. “If I used the phrase glamour girl at all I would apply it to the intelligent girl, who has cultivated a charming, attractive manner. Those qualities are the ones that make a woman interesting to me. Fundamentally, just being a great observer of people makes a woman interesting, and this quality calls for intelligence.

“Of course, when I speak of an intelligent girl. I do not mean the intelligent snob. But I do mean one who makes the most of all her assets. The girl who has brains but who lets herself go, and who cares nothing for her personal appearance cannot, despite her mental

Measured By Famous Illustrator

qualities, be considered charming. But the genuinely intelligent girl will do the right thing with her hair and wear the kind of clothes that will enhance her looks, even glorify her. She will have the intelligence to know how to conduct herself under all circumstances, and she will take advantage of all the opportunities offered her to be attractive. “Such a girl can and will hold admirers longer than the girl who is simply beautiful to gaze at and nothing more. Intelligence, however, gone wrong is as bad as being beautiful but dumb. The intelligent snob ought to make use of her intelligence just as a beautiful girl should make use of her beauty; by not being overly conscious of it. There is nothing worse than a girl who knows she has a fine mental equipment, but who uses it primarily for showing off.” Praise for Wife. Asked to name a specific woman or women he had found attractive, both from the viewpoint of an artist and of a man, Mr. La Gatta put his arm around his wife’s shoulders. “My wife, for one,” he said, gallantly. “She’s a home-maker, and a mother, | and is feminine. He world is her home. However, that doesn’t prevent us from going to parties when the mood seizes us. Not long ago we went to a costume ball, and Mrs. La Gatta, dressed as • Spanish senorita, in a soft, clinging white gown, all womanly lines, and a white lace mantilla, almost captured a prize. I was one of the judges, however, and couldn’t, of course, vote for my own wife.” Summed up, John la Gatta, does not hand the laurel wreaths tQ the young and beautiful girls of the world, but rather to the feminine, intelligent, sympathetic home-makers, the women of charm, no matter what their age or station in life. Glamour, to him, must be something more than the mere gift of Nature. It must be the sum total of a fine, wellrounded personality. And the shallow mask of beauty, unless accompanied by more substantial qualities, does not particularly attract nor intrigue him. It simply leaves him cold.

Latest Novelty. A new fob for the waistcoat pocket of a suit, is a neat little cigarette holder with a screw-on top. The whole affair is between two and three inches long, and is to be had in different colours. It dangles from a thin leather thong, and is fitted with a patent ejector for cigarette ends.

Chair Fashion. Pastel colours in the dining-room are fashionable now, and you may even have your chairs upholstered with a new pastel cloth. This sounds impracticable, but it is not, for this cloth, which much resembles hide, needs only to be wiped over with a damp sponge to keep it clean. Chairs covered in the cloth are to be had in many pale delicate shades, including peach, pale lilygreen, and a soft tone of hyacinth blue.

Floor Mop. Unwind wool of worn-out knitted garment into a thick skein, tie both ends securely and wrap skein round end of broom handle for use as floor mop. As floor polisher, bind head of cld broom with flannel or old velvet.

For the Vases. For effective foliage to put with your flowers indoors, go to the vegetable garden. Asparagus fern has an acknowledged place with cut flowers, but there is other kitchen garden leafage that deserves attention. Silvery fluffy tops off artichoke plants go well with many kinds of flowers. Even cabbages can help in unusual but charming flower arrangements. The outside leaves used as a surround for tiny blooms such as grape hyacinths, in shallow bowls, look very effective.