Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-07-03
THE WAY TO WALK.
Head In, Stomach in. Torso in Reposs
and Toe Down First.

Head Up, stomach In. Torso In RepOse
md Toe Down First.
From the New York World.
American women are pretty and witty
and wise, but they don't know how to walk
Horrors, how your women walk" the
Englishmen say. Ladies' tailors in New
York say the very same thing. Unless a
man is in love with her, it is a punishment
to walk with the modern woman. This is
what Yale College man says about the
New York girls:
In rocking chairs they are bewitching
In the dance they are poetry personified.
But in boots and gowns on the road cows
are not clumsier."
What do you think of that, nowr
Summer resorts are wide open. Last Sum
day the seaside hotels were very we'll pa
tronized. The fair guests on the piazza be-
longed to what might be called the repre-
sentative women. They were well dressed,
but, horrors. how they walked" Ii is not
an exaggeration to say that they shook the
piazzas.
There was very little tiptoeing at Oriental
Beach. Women who go there have loads
of good clothes and lots of money. Those
who took their constitutionals last Sunday
morning were as gay as flowers. but they
couldn't have made more noise going round
the house If they had been hoofed or club
footed 1t was sad to see them, and painful
" near tHcHl ne QulcleSl guest In ner
movements was sensitive creature dressed
In mourning, who walked with a cane.
Most women walk from their necks. their
shoulders go forward and back, their arms
swing. their hips wiggle. their knees rotate
end their skirts flop. In this wabbling COM
mand OF the body is lost. ard the alternate
pitching of the weight from one foot to the
other is both noisy and exhaustive. Ex-
hibitions of this sort throng Broadway and
9th avenue. The trip-hammer tread is
heard in the dining rooms and Railways of
the best hotels and most exclusive restau-
rants in the city. 1t raises the dust from
the carpet of fashionable churches, Il makes
the elevators in dry goods stores sag and
the 9Th avenue stages rock.
The typical English woman has two es-
sential charms-a low voice and a graceful
Walk. Her movements are quiet She NAV
not be altogether unconscious, but she is
calm. Usually she is long-waisted. She
cultivates the lines between her shoulders
and hips. She wears a belt. The belt busi-
ness is only trifie below the tea traffic
That belt never slips its mooring. She may
or may not walk up to IL, but she never
walks above it From the belt up she is
calm. commanding and grand.
Some foreigners suppose that the English
women study the army, others claim that
royalty Is the model. They certainly have
good shoulders, and they wear their bon
nets like crowns. Nine. Albani said of
woman / ever saw" And our own critical
Mrs. Sherwood never tires Of extolling the
majestic carriage of her majesty.
One OF the most successful and beautiful
artistes on the musical stage walks mos,
clumsily, although she has spent hundreds
of dollars for lesso ms. 1t is so amusing 10
see her come down a terrace or a stair
case that scenes of the sort are never used
when they can be avoided. A model in
motion, who has lived abroad a long time
and who carries herself with regal grace
was taught how to walk by her father, a
military man. She Is a truthful woman
Il never wore out a shoe or q boot in nv
life" she says. Il give my clothes away
at The end of the year because the Innings
are soiled. But 1 never turned a heel or
broke the sole of shoe. / claim that a
lady-or, If you prefer the term, a gentle
woman-has no business to wear out
leather. A gentlewoman has gentle WAYS.
She moves softly, steps lightly; she is
simply gentle 1 am gentle. can
go round the room in shoes as softly
as a cat. I claim, too that only
vulgar woman walks noisily in boots II
she were cultivated, and knew how TO walk
she walks on her heels. That throws the
course. there is 4 noise Take a long stem
step from the hips, and step on the front O,
the foot, and the weight is divided alonc
curves and noiselessly carried.
Before woman can walk gracefully she
must stand properly. One of the pretties,
lines In the figure is a bell back. often re-
ferred to as the grace-hoop line. Ii makes
natural hustle. When il is lacking pads
are put In the skirt bands to throw the
draperies out. To cultivate this bell-back
the stomach must be subduei Stomachs
In evidence are alT avs disfiguring and In
women disgusting. Stand so as to throw
the stomach In, and there is the secret OF a
fine back and an admirable carriage For
the finishing touch look up.
Now for the walk. First OF all keep as
quiet as possible. Hold the BODY There
should be rcpose from the head to the hips
Take long steps. Walk on line for prac.
tice. Give the knees play, but not loose
play. Let the heel be the last part Of the
! foot to touch the ground. Walk slowly. A
lady should never be in a hurry, nor ir
anything heavy. Double soles calf-skin
cow-hide. furs and broadcloths are in my
judgment, garments it only for clumsy
| amin ais"