INTRODUCTION

Chapter Nine The Appearance that Fascinates

Except for actresses, and other women who are skilled in the arts of professional femininity, few girls and women select clothes from the proper point of view. Most women are inclined to attach too much importance to the apparel itself, and not enough to the impression which they themselves make in it…In selecting clothes, therefore, you should put aside entirely the merit or the beauty of the apparel itself, and be guided only by the help or the hindrance they give to your efforts to look the part of Angela Human.

The "Huggable" Dress.

The fascination which a beautiful and attractively dressed child has for you is much the same fascination which a pretty and attractively dressed woman has for men…Without the little pink knees, the ribbons, the soft, gauzy, and "huggable" dress, and the vivid colors, she doesn't seem to be the same lovable child. She must, in order to appeal to your love for children, wear a costume that will make you realize her childishness. In the same manner, a woman, to attract men, must wear garments that will make men realize her femininity. They must, like her manner, help to bring out the contrast between her tenderness and the man’s strength. Mannish styles, mannish materials, and mannish colors will never do. To be most fascinating, the woman must wear only those colors, those materials, and those styles which are least suggestive of those used by the men themselves, and which therefore make the greatest contrast with the man's own apparel.

Watch one of the girls who is smart enough to have learned this lesson. She is constantly asking herself "Am I looking my best?" And by best she means her most girlish. So effective is this insistence upon dainty girlishness in her apparel at all times that when she enters a ballroom she is immediately singled out by a score of masculine eyes; every man wants to meet her, wants to see if she is really as adorable as she looks, and wants to do something to make her realize what a man he himself is. Few men will believe, at first glance, that she is not inwardly what she appears to be outwardly--a winsome, innocent, wholesome, adorably human bundle of concentrated girlishness.

 BODY

Putting Dainty Girlishness Into Apparel. 

What you want to select, then, is clothing as much as possible unlike the clothing of the men themselves. Men usually wear dark blue, black, gray and brown. In the main, therefore, you want to avoid these colors. Men never wear pink, lavender, light blue, light green, yellow, violet, or any other delicate shade. These, therefore, are the colors in which you will look most girlish or womanly to men, and in which you will consequently be most alluring. In fact, since the tenderness and child-likeness of women is so appealing to men, women will always seem most attractive in those cuddlesome materials and colors which bring out this quality, the materials and colors which you yourself prefer to see on beautiful children. When you cannot avoid the more neutral colors which men themselves wear, you want to be sure to have a dash of vivid color somewhere to offset the mannish impression you may otherwise make. Black, when worn by blondes might be considered an exception to this rule; but, though it makes them more striking, it does not make them appear nearly as girlish as the more feminine colors do. Black, moreover, falls absolutely flat even in blondes, unless it is distinguished by extremely girlish style, and is made of such obviously girlish materials as chiffon, crepe de chine, georgette, or other dainty and unusual weaves. Incidentally, other neutral or masculine colors can sometimes be worn without disadvantage when the mannish effect is offset by a marked girlishness in style or material.

Men never affect anything fluffy, or lacy, or gauzy, or elaborate. Use such materials, therefore, wherever you can…Plain materials, broadcloths, serges, etc., being materials such as the men themselves wear, you should avoid entirely unless they are distinguished by an extremely girlish style or color…Tailored styles, the extremely severe and simple, sometimes seen in professional women, are too manlike to be of any value in emphasizing femininity or in attracting men…IN SHORT, WHAT YOU MUST HAVE IS APPAREL THAT WILL NEVER LET PEOPLE FORGET THAT YOU ARE A WOMAN, THAT IS AS UNLIKE WHAT THE MEN THEMSELVES WEAR AS IT CAN BE, AND THAT WILL EMPHASIZE AND ADVERTISE, EVERY MINUTE OF THE DAY. THE FACT THAT YOU ARE A WOMAN, ENTIRELY A WOMAN, AND NOTHING BUT A WOMAN. This principle must be applied to every item of your dress, from slippers to combs, from your humblest apron to your most elaborate evening gown.

In bringing out the charming contrast between yourself and men, you must have an all-absorbing pride in your appearance, you must endeavor to appear at your best every minute of the day and under all circumstances.

Too often girls let themselves be discouraged by the fact that they have not sufficient money to spend on apparel. Since they can't have their clothes just the way they want them, their interest in the whole affair is lost.

The average man hasn't the slightest idea of how expensive your clothes are.

Though your apparel need not be expensive, it should be smart, snappy, cute, and stylish…You cannot emphasize your femininity better than by wearing the opposite of the sober commonplace in clothing. This applies to your slippers as well as to your hats, to your kitchen aprons as well as to your cloaks.

Many girls do great injustice to themselves by never studying their own peculiarities in the matter of dress. Learn exactly what colors look best upon you, what shapes of hats make your face look its most kissable, what style of slipper enhances best the daintiness of your foot, and so ad infinitum. We cannot here do that for you. If you can't, in great measure, design your own dresses, learn to do so, as it will enable you to economize in a hundred ways and yet maintain your appearance of style. Always select or make designs that enhance your daintiness, your femininity, your exquisite delicacy and tenderness. Do this with every stitch of clothing you have, from bungalow aprons to bathing suits, from sport costumes to ball-gowns. Endeavor to provide yourself with an entire wardrobe of dainty and cuddlesome garments, each piece as bewitching as the wearer herself.

Instead of spending money on your clothes, spend time, patience, energy, and resourcefulness…Learn something of dressmaking, of designing, of hat trimming. Devour everything you can read on the latest styles and on clothing in general. Subscribe to two or three women's magazines and make use of the almost unlimited suggestions they contain for the improvement of your personal appearance and your apparel…No reward ever comes without effort. You absolutely cannot dress attractively unless you spend time and thought upon yourself and your apparel.

We know that you are likely to say you haven't the time for all this, that you have too many other claims upon you. In short, you are unwilling to take the time to make yourself more attractive. Are these other things upon which you spend your time more important than making yourself fascinating? How can you expect to compete with the girl who does take the time, whose entire thought and energy are devoted to this and nothing else?.. Look around you at the girls who are most universally attractive. Aren't they usually the girls whose energy and time are devoted to that end only? Perhaps the only reason you are not as universally attractive as she is that you have simply not cared or not seen fit to take the time and the energy to be so.

CONCLUSION

What the Hair Should Do.

Invariably a girl who is unattractive otherwise arranges her hair to increase the unattractiveness. We don't know why this is. One would think that, conscious of her handicaps, she would arrange her hair to offset them instead of increasing them. On the contrary, the girl who is attractive will never permit herself to be handicapped by an unbecoming hairdress. The thing for you to do is to learn different methods of arranging your hair to harmonize with the feminine manner you are endeavoring to acquire, the methods that will most help to make your face appear wistful, tender, childlike, and girlish…Do not be satisfied with a severely simple arrangement, for that is too much like what the men themselves affect. "Bobbed" hair is usually very effective in increasing your child-likeness and thus increasing your attractiveness. But do not permit your hair to be "bobbed" unless you are sure that such an arrangement will become your face.

What the Voice Should Do.

Your voice, too, should help to bring out the contrast between yourself and man, it, too, should emphasize your tenderness, your child-likeness, your daintiness and frailty. You want to bring out the qualities which men's voices do not possess. You must not let your voice suggest mannish efficiency, coarse boldness and the ability to kill your own snakes. The voice should be just as cuddlesome, just as appealing to the man's chivalrous desire to protect and shelter, as the person herself. No man likes a coarse, loud or vulgar tone in a woman, any more than a woman likes an effeminate tone in a man…Speaking aloud to yourself, or reading aloud, in the privacy of your room endeavoring all the time to eliminate the objectionable feature in your voice, should be effective. A half hour devoted to this once every day ought to be sufficient, if it is kept up for three or four weeks.

 HW ASSIGNMENT

Part 5 Chapter Nine The Appearance that Fascinates.

Due by midnight, Wednesday, September 2, 2009.

Please email me your answers to 1Femmy@gmail.com with your "name" and assignment number.

Thank you. 

1.       What is the mistake most women make when shopping?