The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1902-12-10
THE PERFECT FOOT.
Points On Regard % she Pedal En-.
tPemtttea.

Points fs Regard % tho Pedal Ex.
treaisies.
A great writer once said: 1.-THE
vanity Of woman nies hard"
Foolish man! It never dies ut all.
land Of ali the prides there Ia none %
bard to subdue as that q woman takes
lin her little feet and trim ankles.
Little feet, however, are deformity
for rather feet too small to harm0nize
with the figure are. Better that the
foot be too large, II shabely, than too
small.
Think OF Juno who stands 8 feet 7
inches and tips the scales ut 50pounds
Lettering to and fro on number ] or
humber 2 feet! She should have .
number foot at the very least, and o
numqeR 8 would not be out OF proper
ton.
To judge by the ideas Of the Greeks
land Romans, beautiful feet are those
which are large enough to carry the
body most gracefully. The ancients
poets speak Of the gait Of their beau
lies, rather than Of their feet.
"Shail be tried 10 this manner"
lsays Juno, II. who walk the queen Of
the gods?"
In the .Iliad," Homer paid homage
l,o Thetis, the silver-footed queen; and
Paris. when making choice among the
many beautiful maidens brought be-
fore him, did not forget the attractions
|of their feet. Their gait he marked,
as gracefully they moved,
And round their feet his eye sagacious
roved.
Poets and romancers have ever raw.
led over the beauties Of the "human
foot deyine." "HOw beautiful are thy
fleet with sandals, o, prince's daugh-
ter." was the greeting Of the bride In
lSolomon's Song; and In spite Of the
lrich adornments Of Judith's dress, her
sandals "ravished the eye" OF Hol0.
lfsrnes, their buckles being studded
With precious gems, fashion which
later was forbidden to the Roman
niatron.
Petrarch admires In bis Laura her
walk above all else. He counts IL
Ichief Of her four principal charms.
Drydeo, too, II not proof against the
Icharms of the female foot and walk:
In length Of train descends her sweep
ing gown,
And by her graceful walk the Queen
ofLove In known.
The mention Of the foot In poetry
has often been used purp0sely to ex-
press reverence, as when Ben johnson
declared that his love for bis mistress
was 80 great that he "would adore the
foot, and II slipper was LEFT of would
kiss It too" Every one 10 familiar
with his highly poetical:
And where she went the flowers took
thickest root,
As she had sowed them with her odor-
Gus foot.
Or . similar reference by Butler:
Where'er yon tread, your foot shall Get
THE primrose and the violet.
That fascinating combination Of
loveliness, aren't coquetry and rigid
virtue, Mime. Recamier, worshipped
lher own beauty. II 10 on record that
lshe preferred dinners to any other
form of entertainment, not for the
lsske of the pleasures Of the table, but
Ibecaute her feet, which were not
pretty, were hidden and her exquisite
hands and arms were well displayed.
She was o coquette to tbs last, keep.
ling up her platonic fertations till the
day OF her death, and she lived to be
livery old woman.
A womsn's foot, when perfect, Ii
Ihollowed out well, both inside and out
with high instep, short heel and
long, straight toes, sligbtly spatulsted
lat the endi.
This is the type Of the most bsauti.
Iful foot. 1t Is, on the whole, foot
|uot frequently seen in its perfection,
Ifor often one or the other element Of
beauty IL wanting. The rearest point
Iof beauty IL the Following Of the out
side Of the foot.
Il used to be that shoemaker's. /.
lasts were male upon the Greek prin.
Iciples, but now q hump In made ON
the outside OF ths last Just above the
point where the slight hollow should
be.
II anyone would convince himself
that the hollow on the outside Of the
foot Is rare, let him watch the print
that seaside bathers leave when they
step ON q dry plank walk. Most Of
such footprints show q greater or
smaller hollow on the inside Of the
foot. but nearly everyone shows q
Istraight, wet mark on the outside.
Tha. water could dow under the
arch OF the foot without wetting II is
an old rule where feet are concerned.
That the foot has an arch, under
which an apple could be rolled, 10 said
OF one well-known beauty OF the pres
ent day.
She Is 50 proud Of her lovely feet
that she has them photographed In
every possible way--in twentieth cen.
tury slippers, In sabots. skates, Louis
Qufnze slippers, Japanese and Russian
shoes. She has also any number OF
plaster cats showing every grneeful
curve and dimple.