Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1884-02-09
Cures for Uglincss.

But why should we be ugly. or old or suffer
ing. or malicious? Let US try not to be so
Half the bad things in life we bring on ourselves
and the rest are mostly durable. Some people
are never old; lie temperament fat age. Sick.
ness and ill-temper can be mended. They both
mean only that the wrong conditions are pres
ent. And irrecOverable ugliness is so rare that
it would not be true to say it does not exist
Dress and manners so modify our looks that
we can make our looks very much what we
please. We cannot avoid having some sort Of
dress and some sort of manners Let us make
them pleasant We all wish to be loved by
somebody. Our lovers and our friends are put
away from US by many repellent influences; by
ill-will, by cruelty, by Indifference, by uginess
by stupidity, by dirt, by inability to contribute
anything to the circle about US. No one will
deny that dirt, stupidity. ill-will. indifference
are durable. So is ugliness. What is ugliness:
question of fashion. One year things arc
voted ugly that next year are run after. Alb
stract ugliness is mystery, perhaps myth
Dull colors are usually unattractive, another
name for ugly; perhaps because they recall un.
consciously murky images. monOtOnOus associa.
lions. not sunlight and brightness. Again. sud
den and irregular lines are commonly dislked
Just because they are IRREGULAR" they Jerk
and unsettle the customary directions of the eve
pain and tire the sight used to rounder forms
But If we lay down a general rule that sudden
and Irregular angles are ugly, whether in faces
costume or caligraphy, we must leave broad
margin for fashlon-the reaction Oftaste. After
too many smooth lines, irregularities relieve
and please. and as we said, abstract ugliness
may be a myth. We believe an absolutely ugl,
woman Is impossible.
Let her whom her sisters call ugly examine
herself coolly She must have some "points.'
:.l1oI> .I.;,~ ,l,o
ill-shapen hand? figure that no corset will i'm.
prove? foot that disheartens every boot maker:
Can the dress-maker do nothing for her? Can
not this ugly quality be concealed, that subdued
something else less offensive brought forward
little2 Can the dentist do nothing for those
yellow fangs the scissors nothing for those nails:
Cannot some little artful pad equaiZe those
crooked shOulders-sOme raised heel that limp
ing gait-sOme Oculist that painful spasmodic
Obliquity of vision? Some powder, wash, OF
paint (let US call spade spade)-that last re-
source OF unbearable mSfOrtune-cannOt some
paint cover that purple stain, that frghtful seal
on cheek and neck?
"NO woman is ugly when she ia dressed" said
the gallant Lord Chesterfield. Nor is any bird
with its plumage. But pluck it! Pluck the
bird of paridise Itself, and learn lesson-that
renowned fowl owes everything to its dress
and we cannot say that of humanity, hOweverill-
favored. Our gifts are manifold, our chances
various and our hopes endless. 1t should not
be beneath us to attend to our plumage, and all
the other little niceties that add so much to the
enjoyment of life.
plain woman with any wisdom will make
the most Of any good point In her physique and
as little as she can OF her worst points For in
stance, If she has q bad coarse complexion she
will not exhibit more sqnare feet of the material
than needful. Square feet? nav, nor
square inches. She will not wear low
dresses, nor very short sleeves. She will
carefully select hues in her dress that i'm
prove. not injure, her own natural cOlOring and
will wear dresses high to the throat, just enough
trimmed with lace to give richness without CON
fusion to the lines of her toilet. Nor will she
wear that lace quite white Only against an
ivory skin does quite white lace tell prettily A
woman with a poor complexion will tint her
lace with brown Ctea and coffee are good dyes),
or with the predominant cOlOrs in her dress.
Thus she will get the softening effects of broken
color at the edges without the risk of calling
attention to her own blemiShes.
very brown woman, however, may make
her dark skin point" Then she will use white
lace. and all colors that enhance her own deep
colOring.
A plain woman with bad figure can adopt
many little harmless devices-at least as harm
less as borrowed locks and teeth, which no one
now condemns. She can borrow a little embOn-
point from the friendly cotton tree; she can
swathe in handsome sleeve the too thin arm
or too sharp shoulder which detracts from any
lingering merit she may have. She can hide her
long. ungainly figure with short, classical
waist; or she can mend the churn-lke shape with a
corset only sufficient to induce a feminine curve.
thin arm may be hidden by richly-draped
sleeve, or improved by thickly lining close one
A shoulder too low may be mended by skillfu]
placed as to carry the eye away from the upper
mart