Evening star., 1940-10-14
By HELEN VOGT.

tenacity to head contour that mas
marked the successful coiffure in
every historical era where hair has
been lovely and flattering," she ex-
planned. Tight units which give the
effect of the hair style being bolted
or riveted together are out, in IA
vor of the swirled lines and grace
full sweeps"
Frankly, if you've seen any Of the
smartiy styled hairdresses which
this year are being called "direc-
tional coiffures" you're almost GER
tain to agree that the new feeling
for softness and swooping lines is a
fattering and wearable trerd. This
hair style is the result of long years
of experiment, dating back as far as
the spring following the first World
War.
At that time women perked up
and began to notice cosmetics and
beauty aids in almost every form.
Then came the mass shearing OF
hair, and for a while the "boyish"
cut was very much in evidence.
Finally, hair was allowed TO grow
back in and all through the depres-
sion, coiffures were more subdued,
probably in keeping with the gen.
eral gloom of the era. 1t was not
until 1886 and 81 that that blight
the "pageboy' came into being,
bringing with it all the charm of
an uncombed cocker spaniel. In
desperation hairstyliSts turned to
the "upswept' as the first step on
the road to directional coiffures.
The upswept died without a strug-
gle and there were no mourners.
All of which finally brings us around
to the pompadour which is con-
sidered by experts to be the true di-
rectional coiffure.
This style may be simple. but 1t
gains rather than loses a sleek ef-
feet through this emphasis on SIM
plicity An upward line on the
side. a soft swirled effect and loose
curls at the back and a pompadour
which may use wave impression
or inverted back wave to character
ize it are all part of this new trend
which looks like more than ade-
ouate solution to the coidure guam
Diary.
Another point that really mat
ters is the fact that the style ties
in nicely with fashions. New hats
have an off-the-face and down-in-
the-back feeling that enables you
to show of your new hairstyle
Dresses have feeling of height and
slimness nicely repeated in the
sculptured lines of the coiffure. In
fact, the whole atmosphere Of "ele-
gance" is captured in the pompa-
dour mode which turns out to be
easy to wear and very little trouble
to keep in place.
If you will look closely you'll dis
cover that the hair is usually
brought down softly behind the
ears to fill out that bare patch that
otherwise would be unfinished in
appearance. However. the style
manages to avoid the long, stringy
back locks and unkempt. dangling
tresses which were once the alterna-
tive to the upswept. Briefly. here
is a style that is smart without
being severe; wearable without
being wishy-washy. AS Miss Jolle
says, Hair is like the icing applied
with cake icer. You can get little
"unpretty" rosebuds and tight,
passe scallops. Or you can have
swooping lines and curved move
ments, and the latter are much the
better eating!" We're not sure about
the eating, but we heartily agree
that they are superior in appear
ance-and our food editor will please
not cringe at the comparison.
The main point we'd like to con-
vey, however, is that you can't pos
sibly tell whether you're going to
approve the directional coiffure un-
til you try it. It's flattering to most