MAKING THE BEST OF YOUR LOOKS

Southland Times, Issue 23438, 19 February 1938, Page 16

MAKING THE BEST OF YOUR LOOKS

By

Marlene Dietrich

It is not only the privilege, but also the duty of every woman to be as beautiful as possible, whether she is before the public eye or not. This is true whether she be on the stage, the screen or in private life. It is a duty she owes to herself, to her family, to her friends. lam speaking of the beauty of the woman, not of the. actress, because, without the first, it is more difficult to have the second. After all, beauty for the stage or screen only means the accentuation of natural beauty by proper clothes and makeup. And natural beauty is the. accentuation of a woman’s good points by use of the same properties. Sometimes, I admit, it is not easy. I have seen women who made me feel that for them to try to be beautiful would be hopeless, but as I have studied them, I have found, even in the plainest, some feature or features that, if properly emphasized, would greatly improve their appearance. Every woman should study how to be charming, how to be beautiful. It makes me furious when I hear a woman say: —“There is no use of putting on makeup. It does me no good.” And I get even more angry when I hear: —“I never use make-up. My husband doesn’t approve.” This prejudice against make-up is hard to understand. A woman will spend large sums on her. clothes and accessories, and then go without makeup. She looks as if she had not finished dressing. Others will dab on a little powder and consider that sufficient. And such a woman generally uses a powder that does not tone with her colouring. That’s another point. Every woman should study her colouring, should experiment to find the make-up best suited to her.

Another important attribute of beauty is grace. Many women who are naturally graceful will spoil their appearance by a slouching walk. The carriage of a woman spells her age. If she slumps, if her step loses its swing, its briskness, its elasticity, she gives an impression, of age. After all, one of the main features of this business of being a woman is being a beautiful woman.