—Some Hints for the Tall Girl.—

Otago Witness, Issue 2689, 27 September 1905, Page 67

—Some Hints for the Tall Girl. —

"When a mother sees her daughter suddenly shoot upward in height until her altitude reaches 6ft or thereabouts (says the mother of a very tall girl), she sighs profoundly, for she knows that many difficulties will beset the girl's future."

Her character need not suffer ; in point of fact tall women are usually full of resource and cleverness ; moreover they are social successes just as often as tiny women are.

But to look well and graceful there aremany sartorial pitfalls they must avoid ; nay, even the furniture with which they are surrounded offers chances to them of stultifying their elegance, and it is in these, directions that failure lies.

Curiously enough, the tali girl cherishes a singularly inappropriate affection feu 1 small, low chairs, into which she sinks "with satisfaction: But is the picture she preser&s with her knees up to her nose a satisfactory one? By no means. To cultivate the stately should be her care. She should sit upright, or wiLh only a soupeon of abandon, in a carved oak chair, or choose a corner of the sofa, if it be noKa low one. jDivans and footstools should avoid

like the plague ; nor should she sit on the floor, as 'her fairy-like bister may, her hands clasped round her knees — a very favourite altitude, unfortunately, among giantesses. In one w?y or jnolher extraordinarily t.ill women 'cither consciously or unconsciously const'intly drow attention to their undue* height. They stand in doorways, they take up a position by the tiniest poison in the room, or they actually marry men who only reach up to their elbows. There ought to bo a law, too. for the prevention of ■such mesalliances. The faults they commit in their choice of attire are just as glaring. A dressmaker who provides one of the tallest girls in society with her admirable toilettes takes 2in away from her apparent size by giving her skirts that are much wider' (though they do not look so) in proportion than those of her shorter sister, and by trimming them round and round, instead of from the waist to the hem. Stripes are absolutely taboo, but spots are not, though they and plaids must be most carefully chosen; in other words, the bizarre must be avoided by the possessor of undue height. Flounces are always a' safe choice, especially for evening frocks, and waved bands of velvet set round and round the skirt, with quiltings or frilb between each, are possible, and often most effective.

With regard to her coiffure, it is unnecessary perhaps to say that saucy little curls or classical coils should not be piled gq the crown of her head. Nor should her millinery be of the lofty persuasion. Understand *me well, please. I am not one of those who recommend a hairdressing scheme ir which the crown of the head is as flat as that of a Dutch doll, nor do I advocate hats thai are utterly devoid of an upstanding plume or blosso-m.

Those modes tell their own secret too plainly, and what the tall girl wishes to do is not to advertise her inches, but to suppress just a few of them.