JUDGING BEAUTY

Southland Times, Issue 20012, 28 October 1926, Page 4

JUDGING BEAUTY

SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS. INTERVIEW WITH DR PLATTS-MILLB. Dr Platte-Mills, who was one of the three judges of the Wellington provincial competitors in the great “Miss New Zealand” Beauty Contest, in the interview below tells something of her experience in the role of adjudicator. Incidentally, she pays tribute to those of the competitors who came under her personal observation, and to the conduct of the contest in this province. As a large proportion of the people of New Zealand were interested in the “Miss New Zealand” beauty competition, it is, perhaps, only natural to conclude that there are many who would like to know something about the way the judges went about their task. Initially it was considered discreet—shall we say?—to include the services of a lady doctor, and the Dominion was extremely fortunate in securing those of Dr Platte-Mills, whose life work and artistic sensibility have given her peculiar qualifications for the/task. When approached by a Dominion representative, Dr PlatteMills spoke quite freely on her experience as judge, and went further in elaborating her views on beauty, how it is constituted, and how it should be regarded.

“I confess,” said the doctor, “that I have enjoyed the task of judging the girls in the beauty contest thoroughly. It has not by any means been easy work, owing to the large number of entries, and the care which the judges had to exercise in order to be perfectly fair to all candidates.” Did the photographs present any difficulty ?

“Yes, at times, to a certain extent. They were sometimes misleading, in that they made certain candidates seem older than their years; and in other instances gave them expressions that were not ordinarily their own. Of course, one cannot expect any hint of colouring from a photograph, and such a thing as personality was only hinted at. This means that we could never have reached our final judgment correctly in all cases without the aid of personal interviews.”

Did the question of health count ? Undoubtedly! We were looking for the most beautiful girl, it is true, but she must be one who in the final event would typify New Zealand, with its fresh air, sunshine, and wide-open spaces. Good physical health was essential—beauty without it is false and deluding. I look for perfection from a health point of view—teeth, skin, hair, eyes, attitude, and expression of face all told their tale. By the way, please don’t smile, anything in the nature of an artificial aid to the complexion was in the final stages washed off before the judging commenced. We. looked for natural beauty strictly. Any grave breaks in health, such as tubercular trouble, had to be taken into account, however attractive the candidate’s appearance.”

And personality—did you consider that? “We did indeed. Beauty without personality lacks something—it is a deficiency, surely!—you will see that whoever of the twelve become the chosen. We also had to look in the deciding stages—unostentatiously, of course—for charm of manner, character, and vitality. All this we judged as far as we were able to do in our interviews with the contestants, yet I feel sure that most of the candidates were quite unconscious of the scrutiny to which they were being subjected, and none felt it to be anything in the nature of an ordeal. It was all done in a quiet, friendly, chatty manner, that disarmed nervousness and encouraged the candidates to be quite at ease.” As regards the contest itself—how does it strike you?

A beauty contest? Well, I have noticed the spread of the idea throughout England, America, and Australia, and felt sure that, sooner or later, it would reach New Zealand. In my opinion it is good that the first contest has come as it has done—a Dominion-wide one, and well-conducted in every sense of the word. There has been nothing in the photographing and the judging of the candidates that any girl or her parents could take the least exception to. And the girls themselves deserve the highest praise for their demeanour and behaviour during the contest in Wellington. I have heard it suggested that only conceit or vanity could induce a girl to enter. That is not true! The demeanour of the girls interviewed was rather ‘Am I worthy to enter in such a contest?’

“We could detect no self-assertion. There was, on the other hand, much quiet dignity, modesty, and a natural trepidation, which we appreciated to the full. It is my first experience as a judge in a beauty contest. I consider that beauty of form and feature is a gift of God, just as much as a beautiful voice, or a talent for acting, dancing, music, or any of the arts, and it should be recognised as such gifts were. Why should we acknowledge and acclaim the one gift and deny public recognition to the other? It is true that the arte demand years of cul tivation to achieve full expression; but so does beauty of body, mind, and spirit—the beauty we would all hold up as an ideal. It demands cultivation of the body by obedience to the laws of health; of the mind by education and culture, and of the character by self-denial and service.

“The indolent beauty has no place in New Zealand’s young life. The twelve finalists are all occupied in various ways—and all are a credit to their parents and their country.”