SMILING MATRONS AS MANNEQUINS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18056, 17 January 1927, Page 9

SMILING MATRONS AS MANNEQUINS.

JOBS FOR CHEERFUL FIFTY-YEAR-OLDS.

(Special to the “ Star.”) LONDON, Novembi

“ Grey-haired matrons, with out-size figures, happy faces and good carriage, up to age 50. arc being sought after in London-; we have six on our books, and we could find jobs as mannequins for

sixty if we could discover them,” said Captain Taylor, secretary of the Dclaroche Mannequin Academy, Regent Street, to the “ Westminster Gazette ” yesterday.

“Thirty years ago thp professional mannequin was unknown,” said Captain Taylor; “ten years ago the first fashion parades were shown . in London, and until almost recently the mannequins required have been girls to show off modern dresses—older women were forgotten.

“ Either they had to go about as ‘mutton dressed as lamb,’ in a copy ol' their daughters’ dresses, or choose any ‘suitable’ garments from wax models. “ Now, however, elder women to show off suitable gowns are urgently required by all enterprising firms. \\ omen with white hair, ‘ comfortable ’ figures, and good carriage to display’ matronly” gowns are what we are looking for; and they must have happy faces.

\ou have to be an optimist to be a mannequin,.” said Captain Taylor. “ A mannequin must smile. We always say to girls, ‘ Don’t look glum—a sour face and an evening gown go ill together.’ ” The Delaroche Mannequin Academy, which is said to have been pioneers in the world for the training of girls as mannequins, was opened three years ag(*

“ Since then,"’ said Captain Taylor, we have had hundreds of applicants for training, and we find only one out of six is suitable.

“ The modern girl's worst fault is her walk. She has no no grace, and is for the most part suggestive of duck looking up a drainpipe.’ \ “ Our first test is to make a girl walk across the room and sit down, and she rarely sits down graceftilly”. . The next trouble is her hands. Hands arc the most characteristic thing about a person, and yet it is so seldom we find a girl who knows what to do with them, and her fingers espe- \\ e have finger exercises for our pupils, to make them use them gracefully- and naturally. “ The most ‘ natural ’ people in the world are those in our aprade of tiny girl mannequins, age seven'to ten. Many of the children come for lessons in deportment, and their sellconfidence and wonderful poise is laughable. V e have the type of small person who drifts around draped in a shawl with the perfefctlv poised air of one who would say ‘A Rolls-Royce? Thank you, but I have four already'!’”