THE LITTLE THINGS THAT MAKE THE BIG DIFFERENCES
As I told you in Chapter I, the stout woman has a great many good points
which she sometimes neglects in worrying about her main problem. This is
a great mistake because after all the little things _do_ make the big
differences and there are so many little things that you can do with
scarcely any effort at all which help so tremendously in gaining the
effect that you want.
WATCH YOUR STEP
For instance, there is the matter of walking. I am not going to give you
any definite exercises, but it is a very easy and splendid practice to
try to walk with a “slipping up” step, that is, practice walking easily
so that you won’t appear to weigh a thousand pounds. If you are light on
your feet people will forget to guess your weight. Don’t let your body
slump down, if you have this tendency. Find some exercises that you can
do happily and comfortably, not to reduce, but to cultivate grace and
ease of motion. When you are all alone in the house and nobody is
looking, trip around lightly and exaggerate a light, easy step. Turn on
the victrola and do your dusting to music. It will help you wonderfully
in gaining that ease of motion which is attractive and pleasing and
encourages youth. Always endeavor to overcome heaviness in step and
movement, for it adds years both to your appearance and to your
feelings. Remember that your attitude has so much to do with your good
looks.
Don’t ever stand with your feet apart or your hands limp at your sides.
One foot a little in front of the other gives an easier appearance and
makes you seem less weighty. Make a practice of keeping your hands
comfortably in front of you, never rest them on your hips wash woman
fashion. Such positions broaden the silhouette and give a “set” look
that is most unbecoming. A large woman with her feet spread apart and
arms hanging like burdens always at her sides makes a very heavy and
unattractive picture.
Don’t cross your arms. Two fat arms can look like four, if you are not
careful.
Stretch and keep yourself limber. Bend so that you are continually used
to it, then your face won’t get red every time you drop your
handkerchief. And right here it may be well to say that most women use
up more energy than they need to and look much more undignified than
they need to when they stoop to pick things up. It is neither necessary
nor graceful to bend so that your back almost breaks in the middle. It
is a much easier and pleasanter gesture to bend at the knees and go
straight down until you can reach the object you want to pick up. In
doing this you can keep your head straight up all the while and need not
get red in the face at all.
WHAT YOUR POSTURE CAN DO FOR YOU
Learn to stand up straight like a soldier. Most fat women seem to have
the idea that they ought to “scrooch” down and disguise their size in
that way. But in this campaign to dress and be thin the back-bone must
be definitely straight. Don’t hunch yourself up and look like a pillow
tied in the middle. Sit straight on your chair and stand straight when
you are up. Hold your head high. A constant practice of chin up makes
you appear taller and erases in the easiest possible way any tendency
towards a double chin.
Dressing up to your weight is good psychology for it keeps you alert.
You hold your head a little higher and grow naturally to observe that
essential rule of standing always just as tall as you possibly can.
Also, your mental alertness is a safeguard against additional fat. I
never knew it to fail—a definite interest in clothes, in looking one’s
best, keeps the fat away. It has a sort of a rabbit-foot charm about it
that really does work.
Remember continually that it isn’t the dress alone that you need watch,
but every detail, for the little things can destroy the big, you know,
and the principles of optical illusion must be adhered to as strictly in
the little things as in the big. For instance, eyeglasses can accentuate
a round face or slenderize it, depending upon their prominence and
shape. Buttons can stick out and look bulky; shirtwaists when worn with
different color skirts can cut you in two; and belts of different color
than skirt or blouse can prove even more treacherous. Gloves or shoes
that are too small give your size away. Lacy stockings emphasize where
they shouldn’t and are as faulty as they are expensive. Before we get
through with this book I hope that I can restore your pride and
self-assurance and that by making the most of these little pointers you
will find your back-bone right where it ought to be. You will then be
able to meet the world with a smile, knowing that at last you not only
feel but look better than you ever have before.
SHOES AND STOCKINGS MUST BE SELECTED WITH CARE
What kind of shoes and stockings do you wear? Not pumps, I hope, because
your
[Illustration:
Above—Neatly shod feet.
Left—Low cut pumps and single strap emphasize fat. Heavy shoes have
too much decoration.
Stockings must always be on straight and well held up, and shoes must
fit. Straps that hold firmly are more effective than those that are
narrow and less restraining. Heavy shoes should be plain in design.
Skirts should always be long enough to cover the largest part of the
leg below the knee.
]
weight is too great to be comfortable in them, and besides if you have
studied the principles of optical illusion as carefully as you should
have, you will realize that pumps will not give you the harmonious
effect that you want to achieve in your costume. A bulge is sure to show
at the top which is not only uncomfortable for you but shows in itself
that you are fat. Wear a strap or laced slipper—any kind that is in good
taste, big enough, and not too heavy. Heavy shoes on a stout woman
interfere with lightness of movement which is something for which you
must continually strive.
Unless you have very attractive, well-proportioned feet, do not attempt
to decorate the bottom of your dress, for it will not only shorten you
but will call attention to your feet. If they are very small they make
the body appear larger and if the ankles are large they give an
undesirable heaviness, so that the very best way, in any event, is not
to call attention to them.
Many authorities say that a black sheer stocking is the very best that a
stout woman can wear, that a heavy black or dark colored stocking is
conspicuous, and a light stocking is “taboo” because it breaks the
height and interferes with the straight line effect. So choose sheer
stockings, but don’t hesitate to buy “out” sizes if you need them. If
they are big enough over the knees they will fit better around the
ankles. I know some big women who refuse to buy “out” size stockings
because they are ashamed to go in and ask for them, and I know some
medium slender women who buy them because they think they last longer.
So pretend that you are medium slender and buy them if they are more
comfortable.
[Illustration:
Round necklines emphasize width. Even though tempting, they are taboo
for those who would slenderize. Long necklines are always pleasing
and are of many variations. A close study of current fashion books
will give ideas that can always be accentuated in length without
outstepping Fashion dictation.
]
NECKLINES ARE SLENDERIZED BY CORRECT JEWELRY AND COLLARS
We big women usually have some one who loves us enough to give us
jewelry and we in turn love them enough to want to wear it on every
occasion. If it doesn’t express slenderness—if it’s a big cameo or a
heavy pair of earrings or a string of round marble beads, especially in
dog collar arrangement—put it away and forget where you put it. Wear
such jewelry some morning when no one is looking; have your own little
“revelry” and have it over with, for such jewelry puts on more pounds
than entire boxes of candy and makes us look like jeweled couch
cushions, which we can never afford to do.
A necklace that is slender, well made, and with a tendency to plainness
is a real asset to a stout woman as it helps the collar line,
slenderizes the face, and gives the appearance of length over the front
that is pleasing, but avoid by all means heavy crystals and don’t ever
wear beads unless they give a definitely desirable lengthening effect.
Watch your collars closely. Work for slenderness and becomingness. Avoid
all neck lines that go around or that are conspicuously colored. A cream
collar is always better than a snow white one and a soft piqué or linen
collar is better than a starched one. Remember that long string ribbon
ties can be real friends if you will let them. Tailor your collars or
use soft lace that is not baby looking. We big folks must _always_ keep
away from babyishness, must learn to stand on our own two feet and look
straight ahead toward the goal of slenderness.
[Illustration:
Gloves, purses and necklaces need to be chosen with infinite care to
aid in slenderizing. Link chains, cords, fine pearls or small oblong
beads are best as necklaces. Slender flat purses are desirable and
neat, well-fitting gloves necessary.
]
PURSES, FANS AND OTHER ACCESSORIES
Pocketbooks and purse bags must be slender, never round or bulky
looking, and must always harmonize with the dress and never be
conspicuously colored. Remember too, not to let your bag dangle
awkwardly from your hand or add to your width by the way you carry it.
Let it be a part of the line of your costume just as it is in harmony
with the color.
Graceful fans of subdued colors often aid in a pleasing gracefulness,
but little fans allow of an uncomplimentary comparison, just as do
small, gay parasols.
Fat fingers are shortened and made more fat by heavy rings.
Earrings widen the face. Sometimes a slender face accompanies a broad
body. In such a case, earrings are an advantage if they are appropriate
and graceful.
Jeweled belts, conspicuous in ornamentation, must all be given away to
willowy friends, because they could prove helpful to them and a menace
to you.
NEATNESS AND CLEANLINESS ARE ESSENTIAL
Once when I was writing a book on dress, a fashion authority and
personal friend insisted that I should not put in a chapter on
cleanliness, which I wanted very much to use, saying that it “put an
ugly frame on an otherwise beautiful picture.” But personal cleanliness
and careful grooming to my mind are so necessary that no book on dress
would be complete without them.
We may not have beautiful clothes, and may grieve that we are not
willowy enough to wear the smart extremes in dress, but our grieving is
totally unnecessary. We can learn truly to be as attractive, as
admirable as our slender sisters if we set out with the will and
determination to express perfection so far as our ability and
intelligence will allow. A fresh bath, some bath talcum, clean,
well-fitting underthings, neat, good-looking shoes, and modest stockings
can give an enhancing foundation for the dress we have so carefully
planned. And when we are spic and span from the inside out we are sure
to dress with more dignity, more poise, than we possibly could
otherwise.
COSMETICS EITHER ADD OR DETRACT
Thick lips should never wear rouge, and black eyebrows should never be
blackened; neither should a pale, grayed face be surrounded by a dull
gray or black hat. This is all out of key and attracts unnecessary
attention. We must express some color tone, just as we do personality,
but it must be subtle or vivacious, discreet or bold, and in both cases
must be individually becoming.
If the eyes are dull in color, do not wear bright colors on your hats
for the eyes lose in comparison, and eyes can always express friendly
happiness and individuality if we surround them properly.
Avoid a shiny nose as you would the Plague.
Beware of oily creams. Remember an astringent reduces and controls and
that 99 cases out of a hundred need oilless creams rather than oily
ones. Beware of rouge. Your face usually will have color enough. If it
hasn’t, use it, oh, so wisely.
Study your face carefully, experiment with color in front of an honest
mirror that is placed in full day light. Rouge and powder rightly
applied can narrow the face and prove very advantageous, so experiment
and put the color just where you need it, but don’t put on any until you
have picked up a couple of things from the floor and walked around the
room quickly at least twice. Work to look immaculate. It is so much more
becoming. Baby faces and full proportioned bodies don’t go well
together, and harmony we must have throughout this program.
If your forehead is low, powder the forehead generously and comb the
hair back as much as becomingness will allow. This will tend to add
height to the body and length to the face.
It is said that a large woman is usually very dainty in her habits just
as a large man invariably has a very tiny, neat signature, so let it be
an asset, and be dainty about your use of cosmetics. It is so much more
pleasing than an extravagant use could ever be.
THINK OF THESE LITTLE THINGS BEFOREHAND
Buy a few things and have everything right. Think of all of your
wardrobe at one time. Be sure that everything goes together agreeably.
Take care to keep every part of your clothing in good repair and
immaculately clean. Every woman can gain a reputation for being well
dressed if she remembers not to be haphazard in buying, wearing, and
caring for her clothes. If you have any of these habits, come, let us
talk them over confidentially, because I, too, have had to learn by
sheer necessity to overcome, one by one, these very expensive, annoying
tendencies, and the only way I succeeded was to learn, as a matter of
habit, to hang things up carefully when I took them off, to make sure
that dress shields were in place, and to take special care to have
everything in right shape when it was time to dress.
Take very special pains to have all supporters securely fastened,
stockings on straight, and each garment rightly in place, for neatness
in dress is more essential for us than almost any other thing. In fact,
fastidious care of person and clothes is one feature which requires
constant vigilance.
Avoid every tendency toward over dress. Don’t trim yourself too much.
Modesty, simplicity—intricate simplicity perhaps, but a beautiful
simplicity—is a definite part of our program and must be followed out
religiously to conceal at all times an extra 30 or 40 pounds.
Be sure that the brassiere and corset overlap at their joining. The
brassiere should come over the corset a good 2 inches to insure its
holding. If the abdomen is full or stomach high, supporters fastened to
the brassiere at the front are an advantage.
Never allow your shoes to squeak or your gloves to pinch in their
tightness. Never allow a spot to show on any garment. Be immaculate,
work at it, keep at it, for you, you know, have a definite purpose that
must be achieved.