Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-03-04
THE QUEST OF BEAUTY
The Ideal Proportions Of the
Feminine Sex.
RULES TO FOLIO w
WHEN ONE STARTS OUT TO
CHANGE WEIGHT.
Measurements of the Ideal Woman
Useful Hints in Many
Ways.

Wrlttel Tor .he Evening star Dy Katherine MOTION
Dear Miss Morton: / am five feet three
inches tall. Is it right that my hip meas
ure should be forty inches? And If this
is too large, how much shall reduce it?
CONSTANT READER.
Now, Constant Reader is only one of
a great number who write to this de-
partment to know what their proportions
ought to be. They know how to build
! themselves up, they know how to tear
| themselves down, but they don't know
which to do. Perhaps it will help them
| to study the ideal measurements the meas
| urements of the woman who is, physically
| speaking, perfect. Then they can choose
| their path of physical training.
| First, about the hips The American hip
| measure seems to be a most common
difficulty. Our women corset themselves SC
violently that they have to write to me
to ask why their feet and hands are always
| cold and why their noses are red. 1 can
recommend flesh brushes and skin lotions,
| but all this is not getting at the root OF
| the matter.
Make sure, however, before you take exer-
else to reduce your hip measure that it
| needs reducing. Suppose you are woman
OF five feet three, an average size. Your
| mpS, to be an average, should measure
| thirty-five inches. For every inch of height
| added to five feet three add one inch to
| your hip measure. For every inch less that
your stature may be deduct one inch for
| your hip measure. Thus, if you are five
| feet six, the hips should be thirty-eight
| inches; If five feet one, the hips should
be thirty-three inches, and so on.
Over-large hips are more common than
| understood ones. Many exercises to cor
| rect both imperfections have been given. II
| may be worth while to remind Constant
| Reader that inasmuch as she has five
| inches of hip measure to dispose of the
| sooner she takes to energetic walking on
| her hands and knees the better There is
| no better exercise for the purpose, although
| she has SO much to accomplish that she
| will be obliged to resort to general mat
| work, and if possible, bicycle riding.
Taking her height as a starting point, let
| us look at weight in general. The average
weight for a woman of five feet three is
| lis pounds. Bear in mind that average is
| not ideal. 1t is claimed that the perfect
| woman of this height weighs 1873. If your
| 133 pounds are properly distributed this is,
| indeed, ideal weight, but few have the
good fortune to find them So Most women
| of this size have a dumpy appearance, be-
| cause the flesh goes largely 10 the hips.
Here is the Rule.
If you have time to work Systematically
| with massage, flesh food and exercise so as
to put flesh where it is needed and remove
| it where it is super1uous, then set your
| standard at 1873. But an average measure
| ment will satisfy most of you Starting at
lis pounds add seven for every inch of
height. Thus if you measure five feet four
normal weight will be l25 pounds, and so
on. For every inch less than five feet three
deduct six pounds. Thus, a woman of five
feet one should weigh 106 pounds
There is a tradition that the circumfer-
ference of the neck should be just the reac oh
of the hands VIXEN encircling it: in other
words, the thumbs should exactly meet nm
der the chin when the middle finger tips
touch at the back of the neck In the
terms of your tape measure, this is the
rule of the neck. Constant Readers
should be, to make her of average size 12L
inches. If she We're an inch taller her neck
measure should be one-quarter inch larger
| and so on. For every inch below five feet
three deduct one-quarter inch. You all
know the bending and twistings and mas
sage movements that will bring the neck to
the correct size.
The question of waist measure is a diff
cult one. Waist measures vary, alas! ac-
cording to the power of iacine string
and honest measurement is no longer
possible to many women. The form becomes
compressed by long use of tight corsets
ana 1t ceases to spring back to its natural
shape when released. Corsets in themselves
are proper and wholesome, and few women
are so built to be able to do without
them 1t all rests with your selection of
the proper size and shape and with your
pulling of the cord.
a S412-1nch Waist.
A woman of five feet three who has
allowed her waist to shape itself comfort
ably within an easy corset or corset waist
will allow the dressmaker to set down her
measure as 241s inches. For every added
inch of height her waist increases about
three-quarters of an inch. For every inch
below the waist measure decreases at about
the same rate
1t Is not easy to bring back the distorted
waist to the beautiful shape that was in
tended, but exercises will work wonders.
If you intend to make business Of per-
fecting your figure. have a corset fitted
properly; let your waist be given its proper
space within it; then devote half an hour
each day divide the time into two periods)
to taking bending and stretching move
ments, especially the former.
A Rare Quantity.
The proper proportion of forearm and
upper arm is seldom found. One woman
who has a perfect forearm, one that artists
are enthusiastic over, has an upper arm
that actually measures less than the fore
arm. Naturally she clings to elbow sleeves.
Properly the upper arm should be about
two inches larger in circumference than the
lower part. For the standard which we
have been considering, the upper arm meas
ure should be 10A inches, the lower 81.
For every inch in height there will be a
gain of one-quartcr to half an inch in
each. The average woman of five feet has
an upper arm of 91a and a forearm ;-bout
two inches smaller. Dumbbells give the
best all-round work for developing the for
mer and Indian clubs for the latter.
The calf of the leg of this average-sized
woman measures Ii IA inches For every
inch of height there is increase of half
an inch in the calf measurement. Dancing,