WHY THE AMERICAN GIRL IS ADMIRED ABROAD.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8333, 3 June 1905, Page 3

WHY THE AMERICAN GIRL IS ADMIRED ABROAD.

An Englishwoman has written a lengthy letter to the London " Chronicle," .in which she reveals the siecret of why the American girl is always more attractive and graceful than her English cousin. Attractiveness and grace inspire admiration from men and women alike, and this is all due, the Englishwoman claims, to the American girl's perfect self-possession and her ability to dress well. " It is perfectly true," the Engliahwoma.n writes, "that we have the ftn- | est complexions and the best figures ! in the world, but we Englishwomen, all i the same, don't come out on top in the list of graceful women. Why? It is a puzzle, indeed. I only wish I could answer the question succinctly, but the reasons themselves are somewhat occult and elusive. For one thing, we lack assumption, or call it audacity, if you will. i " In America I have seen a woman, plainness spelled in every feature, enter a reception room dressed in the height of fashioh, and oarrying herself with an air of dominance which made all the other women in the room envious. And somehow or other you forgot she was plain-looking, and fell to studying her lovely frock and elegant coiffure, and found these faultless, you may be sure, for the American woman is correct and careful in every detail of her dress, if she is in anything at all. "Now, an Englishwoman, if she were plain, would in nine cases out of ten dress dowdily and glide into the nearest corner to hid© herself there like a frightened little mouse. As for the pretty American girl (and some of them are very pretty, with clear, velvety complexions), she has audacity unlimited, and she must be forgiven for it, for she carries her lithe, energetic little self in quite a queenly way. " The French girl nas a good idea of this assumption, too, and carries herself in the very way her clothes demand' of her. She seems to get inside the spirit of the garments, if such an expression may be allowed, and make them part and parcel of her being. Now, with Englishwoman how different it is ! If she has a new gown she just dread 3 going out in it, and wears it many times in the privacy of her own home before venturing to appear in public with it. " £< Then comes the day when first she braves the world in it. She sallies out feeling miserable, and looking, I have no doubt, fifty times more so. And yet she knows the dress is all right, fits her perfectly, suits her colouring, arid is smart in the bargain. She is miserable simply because the spirit which should make her rise to the occasion and don her new garb as though it were perfectly familiar is lacking. It; is terrible to feed one is a martyr to one's clothes, yft/ this is what it .amounts to if the simple wearing of a new garment makes us miserable. Now, when you get a now dress and are quite sure that it has no faults, put it on and go and -mix with your friends, quite ignoring its existence. To look self-conscious spoils the whole thing.* " Next comes our lack of appreciating circumstances. To dress in keeping with one's circumstances is to dress properly. If we are bent on our hockey practice, then a neat costume with short Bkirt ; a cap or ' Tammy/ and plain gloves are required. You need a blouse of some sort, or a jersey. Let these be smart. A white jersey, spotlessly clean, and a ' white ' Tammy ' would look smart with a blue costume for hockey at any time. > But a plain blouse may -be substituted. I think if our girls would go in for simpler garments they would look neater. In fact, that word 'neat,' if thoroughly lived up to, would' improve us all round. Tnerois too, much struggle for artistic garments among British girls, <too much of the ; «ndeavour to wear what Mrs So-and-So wears, the latter being a lady who can drive about > in her carriage, and therefore requiring a very differ-

ent wardrobe from her humble emulator. ." Why, for the sake of our reputation abroad^ shouldn't we try to look nicer? Let us study ourselves in our full-length mirrors, not for the sake of any rain purposes, but to ' see ourselves as others see us.' "