Evening star., 1932-09-16

Let there be no mistake about that
term.
Twenty-Five years ago she would have
been called homely by every one. even
by those who loved her.
Today she Is still homely, but she
fools many people into thinking her
pretty, or beautiful, almost.
Her salvation is that the styles have
been created for her, because there are
50 many Of her, and also that the ac-
cepted charmers of the movies and the
theaters are exactly Of her type, al
though mostly possessing more real
beauty.
The glamorous Greta, for instance, is
generally accepted as the very peak Of
modern womanhood, at least in regard
to those subtle charms which are
Jumped under the heading OF sophisti-
cation.
Every one who has seen her pictures
has noticed, however, that many Of the
shots" of her show her as anything
but beautiful.
The very next section of film will re-
veal her as charming.
Does this mean that this paragon,
this ideal Of so many, Is homely one
moment and pretty the next, or that
maybe she really isn't quite as lovely all
the time as her settings portray her?
X
The ideals Of beauty have changed,
so that today certain sickness" OF
appearance is accepted in lieu Of true
lineaments of beauty, at least according
to the old style of criticism.
A certain lack of facial expression,
more of the Indian type, Is esteemed.
And this is in line with the Judgment
OF such critics as J. B. Priestley, the
English novelist, who believes that a
new sort Of race Is being created In
America, a race which is foreign" In
appearance, at least to an Englishman.
Perhaps many men and women whom
most of us tend to regard as typical
Americans" would have the same air
of strangeness to us If we had not
grown up with them, II the change of
features had not been so gradual over
the years.
That real change has taken place
in the American countenance may be
noticed by any one who cons over the
old Brady photographs taken during
the Civil War. Yet to many observers
those old faces will seem more for
eign" especially as to the jaw forna-
tions, than the faces Of their COM
patriots.
The average modern girl is sort Of
compromise creature, as to face, figure
and clothes.
She will pass" as pretty, but actually
quite often isn't.
She is thin, yet retains enough fat to
possess the minimum necessary amount
OF curves.
Her features are not really pretty but
they are far from homely.
Her clothes, for the first time in his
tory. have been designed with these
facts in mind.
The lanky girl, of whom Greta is the
type, is now the beau ideal Of woman
hood
Chunky. hunky women must DO their
best to be thin. slithery ladies II they
want to be in the fashion swim.
II their forearms measure nine inches
they will look beefy, in comparison with
the large number of girls whose arms
total only seven inches or less.
So there are no more ugly women!
Important, il true, and it's true.
No one has seen a homely girl for
years. What with bobbed hair, modern
clothes and hats, and the devices of the
beauty parlors. any woman can make
herself presentable. In fact. the girl
who would have been overlooked a
quarter Of a century or more ago in the
ugly clothes and absurd hairdress STYLES
Of that era, today finds all things de-
signed especially for her. Modern edu-
cation, in and out Of school. has de-
creed that Americans shall desire to be
alike, attempt to think alike and want
to look alike. In this rather dubious
adventure Of a race the womenfolk
have taken the lead