WHY BLONDES FASCINATE!

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 20111, 23 November 1928, Page 9

WHY BLONDES FASCINATE!

NO BLACK-HAIRED ANGELS. An American scientist lias declared that blondes are dying out, and that liy tho end of this century they will practically have ceased to exist. Fair liair will live on only as a myth; its occasional appearance in the streets will attract crowds of sightseers. The calculation is based on an assumption that blondes were onco far mora numerous than* they are to-day, states a writer in an exchange. As witness all the old storybooks. But I am wondering if the fair-haired beauty was ever a commonplace of life. Is it not probable that the prominent role she has played all through the ages has been due to her rarity? From the days of Eve to Miss Anita Loos' Lorelei Lee, tho blonde has stepped lightly and triumphantly down the pages of fame. But I doubt whether this would liavo been her privilege had there ever been more of her.

What is it about goldon hair that has always enslaved the popular imagination ? Why "did Wilton make his first woman a luxuriant blondo? Why have none of the famous paintings of Eve contradicted him?

In mythology we have a golden-haired Venus, inordinately proud of her fairness, and Three Graces who were all blondes., Tho more tangible Sappho was also fair, and Homer made fair hair one of tho chief charms of his fatal Helen of Troy.

Beligious painters, with almost one accord, have decreed that the ; Virgin Mary was blonde; and who ever saw a picture of a black-haired angel ? Consider the pools. When Dante 101 l in love with Beatrice at sight, her golden locks were the first of her charms lie set on paper. Tasso modelled his Armida. of "Jerusalem Delivered" oil tho famous blonde, Eleanor of Esto.

hi history Diana of Poicticrs, Gabriello d'Estrces and Anno of Austria -wore all fair trouble-makers. So wero Marie Antiouetto and licr predecessor oil that ilifated throne of France; while it is recorded that one of the most famous courtesans of all time—Ninon do L'Enclos—once cut off her glorious fair hair to appease the jealous anxiety of a favoured lover. The tragic {igurq of Marguerite of Navarro remains to remind us that blondes can lie cruel—and that Of Mme. do Maintcnon to provo that they can be villains.

-The tradition of tho blonde heroine has still persisted, however. It is said that even tho executioner was moved at tho death of Mary Queen uf Scots bccauso of her exquisite golden hair. In our own time there arc spheres whero tho mero possession of fair hair seems to compensate for the absence of almost everything elso—tho musical comedy stage, for instance, especially in France. Again why? Because blondes aro rare, have always l>cc k ii rare, Thoy aro usually colder, harder, mora seliish and more calculating than brunettes. Tho golden tresses of l'apunzel would never havo been remembered so long if the mouse-coloured variety had not been; nioro common, oven then.