Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-02-11
THE QUEST OF BEAUTY
stF @.
How to Do the Everyday
Things Well.
LEARN FIRST TO SMILE
CULTIVATE A PLEASANT VOICE
AND LAUGH.
Keep the Body Erect When You Walk
Up Stairs - Other
Hints.


Written for The Evening Star by Katherine Morton.
1t is not given unto all of US to be bril-
liant and accomplished and what Is known
as remarkable" There are hundreds ana
thousands who must go through life with
cut doing one remarkable thing. And these
hundreds and thousands have nothing 10
sigh over. If they will make up their
minds to do common, everyday. unremark-
able things well, they cannot ran 10 WIN
admiration. In many cases the girl VINO
does this will be more charming than her
brilliant sister whose violin playing makes
her famous A large proportion OF the "o-
men who do uncommon things are COM
plete failures at the common ones. "A
young woman who Is winning early laureis
as a sculptor exclaimed frankly: am
openly Jealous of that little yellow-haired
ninny. She can fill dance program Whlle
l am sitting against the wall. may nave
chiseled some marvellous figures. Dur
give them all to be able to waHz as grace
fully, smile as prettily and lausn as Hlu
sically as she does.
1t was honest and 1t was 1emin1he.
Waiting and smiling and laughing are very
common things. while chlsehng pusls 20
very uncommon; yet every woman Wouio
rather be successful at the former. Anu
the secret of this Is that every woman
knows that no marble was ever the means
of winning a man, and many sInlIe Has
done the trick.
Learn, them first of all. to smile. Learn
this lesson from a mirror. Refrain from
grnning Hold your lips in control, max
ing the eyes do most of the smiling, the
lips parting only little.
A Pleasant Voice.
Cultivate a pleasant laugh and speaking
voice. If you have dropped into bad hao-
its, such talking through your nose, talk
ing in a whining tone, muttering instead OIL
speaking distinctly. talking loudly, laugh
ing narshly-cure yourself. Take fifteen
minutes day to read aloud, crltlcisins
YOUR voice severely. Throw the chest out,
breathe deeply, and let the voice come full
and ringing, the words distinct. If you can
afford the time and money. take at least
few lessons in elocution. These should De
part of every girls education, even
| though she has no intention of going upon
the stage or even of giving parlor recita-
lions. well-handled voice is too precious
charm for her 20 think of sparing.
Teach yourself. by earnest practice re-
peated failures and repeated efforts to be
graceful in the ordinary acts that occur
during all your waking hours. Unless you
can stand well and sit well you will be al
ways i'll at ease in society. Letters fire.
quently come to me-letterS from distressed
readers who complain of this lack of ease.
One girl wrote that she accepted no more
invitations. for she could not think of any
thing except her hands, and she could not
find anything to do with them. That girl
had not been properly trained. She had
never been taught how to stand. If she
| had, reception would not have been an
| agony to her. III 5-:..i. slt.a. t. -..---....
f-..s.- To Stand Well
The large afternoon functions that are
| fashionable at present require that a, guest
| shall stand most of the time, and an awk-
ward woman is never more at loss than
! when standing. Practice at home to pre-
| pare yourself for this emergency. Stand
| with your back to the wall touching it
| with your heels Now force the body back
| against the wall. bringing as much of it in
| contact as possible Let the shoulders be
| pressed against it. This brings the chest
| up and gives erectneSs to the whole body
| But this would be a stiff position if you
| were conversing over teacups. Keep the
| heels in position. hold the chest up and
| body erect, while you sway slightly forward
| from the wall. shifting the weight from the
| heels to the balls of the feet You now find
! yourself in graceful and comfortable
| standing position. The arms should swing
easily at the sides, Stand for five minutes
| until the position becomes natural to YOU
| When standing during a conversation it
| would be awkward to keep the hands
| dangling; let them fall clasped. before you,
or hold some article But maintain the po-
| sition which your practice teaches YOU.
| Avoid the mannish habit of folding the
| arms and the provincial habit of resting
| the hands on the hips.
Avoid Nervousness.
In sitting, avoid nervous tension. Relax.
| If you obey this law your position is pretty
| sure to be graceful. The hands may rest
In the lap. on the arms of the chair one of
| them may be on the back of the chair: In
| any case, they must not clasp anything
tightly as If you were trying to hold your
| self firmly in the chair.
| Sit well back in the chair thus avoiding
! the bad habit of sitting the spine. You
| can lean back far enough for grace if you
are chatting; if you are busy you will
avoid fatigue. When sewing or writing Won
| should be upright with high chest. as much
as when standing, and what leaning is to
| be done should be done from the hips The
| shoulders must not bend.
Break yourself of nervous habits such
as tapping with fingers or toes or heels. or
| fidding with small articles. A dear old
| lady has a way Of tying hard knots in he r
handkerchief while she talks, and she is
| totally unconscious of the habit which is
! positively nerve-rasping to the onlooker
| Let your hands rest unless they know how
to talk, too. as do a Frenchman's; but
! American hands seldom take naturally to
| language
To Go Up Stairs.
| In going up stairs keep the body erect
| and so prove yourself one woman in n
| thousand. If you Will watch a procession
of women toiling up stairs you can fancy
| them all bowed with the weight of years
| They lean forward until their spines cry
out for mercy. Stairs are not to be climbed
| You may walk up them with very little
| more effort than on a level. Raise the
| chest and the whole body, then incline it
| forward ever little. Step upon the ball
| of the foot, springing lightly at each step.
| If you are inclined to short breath, do not
permit yourself to puff and pant your way
up. Go slowly, breathing easily with lips
| closed. Hold the skirt up in front to avoid
| tripping if you keep the body erect you
will not need to raise it much. In going
down stairs, keep the body erect, step on
the ball of the foot and make the knee
yield easily at each step. Being a woman,
you are, perhaps, inclined to turn your toes
in when going up stairs Don't
| When walking, let the chest lead. Many
women let the abdomen lead. The abdomen
must be forced in, not by corset steels and
| strong elastic, but by your own will Your
muscles are yours to command. They must
be made to draw in the abdomen
The ball and heel should touch the ground
lightly At one time there was a fad for
| walking with the ball of the foot touching
first, and this gave an absurd appearance
| almost like dancing the street. That
was a notion held by extremists; but it is
true that the heels are given too much OF
| the body's weight in walking. To walk well
NEf Ia