MODERN BEAUTY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 75, Issue 244, 15 October 1932, Page 3 (Supplement)

MODERN BEAUTY

Arc changes taking place in feminine types? A comparison of the numerou xA’O portraits of lovely Eng- | lish women, on view at the Royal Academy, with paintings and photo- | graphs of similar types of 25 to 30 years ago, would suggest that not. only have women’s faces changed in expression, but also in the contour of features, writes the Daily Mail. Experts on women s beauty find it hard to agree, however, that the changes have been for the better. One famous artist, Mr. David Jagger, whose portrait of the Queen is one of the outstanding features of the academy, believes that there has been no change in women’s types, but that the startling contrast between women of to-day and women of yesterday is due mainly to clothes and grooming. “Comparing present-day beauties with beauties of 25 years ago, one would hardly believe that they could be the same, breed,” he said. “The change is, however, surface and not structural. There arc in women to-day stronger expressions, arising out of independence and a life of sport and activity. But if one put. most modern women into the clothes of yesterday there would be very little difference in their appearance.” Mr. Bertram Park, the artist and photographer, said that in 25 years the change in feminine types has been considerable, and that in 50 years it has been most pronounced. “From the Middle Ages to the MidVictorian period I do not think that the change in character or beaut.y was very considerable,” he said, “but now we have a race of women who have become real persons instead of simpering misses. The changes noticeable to-day are in the firmness of mouths and chins. Athletics, advanced knowledge of hygiene, and education have brought, about those strong changes in expression and facial contours so evident to-day.”

Mr. Philip de Laszlo, the famous portrait painter, is of opinion that the present-day woman has lost something of the beauty of former generations. “She has gained physically from living a more sporting and healthy life than did her mother,” he said, “but an expression has generally developed from the present restless life which I might call the ‘chauffeur expression.’ There is in modern women none of the tranquility and repose which used to be part of womanly charm. ”