Los Angeles herald., 1907-05-05
Talusology:
The Cult of the Ankle.

talusologyr' repeated Mile. Ie, tne ankie
culturist. Because was stranded In
Paris and driven to answering the adver-
tisement of an American woman for an
American masseuse. She was amazed
when suggested beginning with her
ankles-most of our countrywomen neg
lect their ankles shamefully-expiaining
that they were half an inch too thick,
and then proving that statement by meas
urements.
"That ankle-making is not new. but
recently revived, cult Is evidenced by the
anklets left by the ancient Greeks ana
Romans who probably devoted time as
well as money to their ankles. No doubt
Anthony gave Cleopatra more than one
pair of anklets during the course OF their
Irritation.
Considerable time is required to get the
ankles into good condition, ana unless
some women begin shortly they won't be
able to appear with bare ankles next sum-
mer at the Narragansett, Bar Harbor and
Southampton bathing beaches, and II GER
tain maids and matrons wear stockines
into the surf people will say that their
ankles are unpresentable. prominent So
ciety woman living on Sixty-seventn
street, near Madison avenue, mas decioeu
to pass next summer inland, simply De-
cause her neglected ankles cannot be re-
formed in less than year.
.'Society women with pretty feetf NO
end of them. At the Long Island morse
shows you must have noticed Mrs. Cass
Canfeld, Mrs. Reginald Brooks and Mrs
Norman Whitehouse as they stepped from
their carriages or caught glimpse OF
Mrs. William K. Vanderbilts tiny rect
To be sure, these women are from the
South and West but New York can boast
of Mrs Clarence Mackay, Mrs. Peter
Cooper Hewitt and Miss Natioa ,Rives-
Mrs. Ernest Iselin has lived here so long
that she seems like native, and there
are those Spanish beauties-Mrs. Philip
I,udig and the Misses De Acosta-all with
faultless feet, and some Cubans quite as
fortunate are Mrs. W. Scott Cameron and
her sister. Mrs. August Belmont, Jr.
..Eyery woman should criticise her
ankles as pitilessly as though they be-
longed to some other woman, or else get
the opinion Of a relative-relatiyes are so
brutally frank. The morning after
debutante danced at the Junior League
entertainment her aunt said to her: MY
dear child, was positively ashamed Of
your ankles yesterday. They are an Inch
too large and almost square. You must
see Mile. Zie Immediately.
1.-THE ankles must be Of good color.
That Is, as white as the rarely exposed
upper arm, and as smooth and free from
unsightly marks and bruises.
Sometimes simply rubbing with the
hand or with glove will restore tone
and color to the cuticle, but many women
complain that their ankles are roughened
and Redeemed and otherwise discolored
by wearing low-cut shoes In cold weather.
For a mild case, vaseline camphor Ice
will serve, but If the ankles have been
long neglected, 1t Is well to rub them
every night with almond cream and then
wrap them In the tops Of discarded kid
gloves, so that the cream may thoroughly
work into the flesh. Afterward the cuti-
Gle may be bleached with diluted perox-
ide of hydrogen.
'If freckles appear, as they are apt to
on fair-skinned persons who have been
exposed to the sun, frequent applica-
tions OF lotions containing lemon Juice
and other ingredients may be used. If
they agree with the skin.
''For moles we use a plaster which in
duces suppuration, but 1t must be re-
membered that moles are not to be
handled lightly or unadvisedly by anna
teurs.
"Do not have dark hair on your ankles
II you want them to look pretty. Even
II you are exceedingly brunette, bleach
your ankles with peroxide Of hydrogen.
which Is harmless, or, better still, remove
the hair with a regular depilatory. One
of the best is Of sulphydrate Of soda.
100 grains; chalk, 500 grains. Make into
a thin paste with water and apply to
marry QHTLs let IL E0luhAA I'VE . AuW
moments and then scrape IL ON Win
blunt blade.
''Thick ankles are an abomination In
the sight of all men and are not In
frequently the crumpled rose-leaf Of some
slender woman's existence. whereas her
stout sister may bemoan thin legs. 1t
is infinitely easier to round angular ankles
than to reduce fat ones, but both defects
can be remedied. Every woman knows
that her ankle is too large IL she Is un-
able to span 1t with her own thumb and
fore-hnger tips and out Of proportion
If It is not precisely the size OF her
arm directly above the elbow.
''I'll buy pair of anklets this morn
Ing" announced one Of my clients the
other day. She is loyal New Yorker
who believes that anything worth having
may be purchased between Fourteenth
and Fifty-Ninth streets, but she ate
lunch and drank tea in the shopping
district and returned home ankletless and
with the report that few Of the jewelers.
clerks knew what she was talking about.
Continental city, and while automobiling
o-er Europe this winter, another client
collected some that will make the fire.
beyond Beyond the Southampton dunes turn
green with envy. One design Is ser
pent of finely spun gold with emerald
eyes, another OF dpii l gold mas t homan noral
with silver tracings and ruby eyes
Jeweled anklets are unsuitable for quite
young girls, but debutantes favor gold
with tiny diamonds, rubies or emeraids--
emeralds will be exceedingly popular
and for women In mourning are designe
OF dull jet with tiny diamond or silver
tracings.
with diamonds are effective, as are the
reproductions Of variously colored snakes,
like the rattler. At Oetend LAST summer
Time Cavalierf wore Mercury ankletg OF
finely spun gold with little silver wings
said to be the gift Of the King oe Bal
giumL