"Her grace of motion and of look, the smooth
And swimming majesty of step and tread,
The symmetry of form and feature, set
The soul afloat, even like delicious airs
Of flute or harp."
--_Milman._
Stooped shoulders is one beauty ill that is wholly unnecessary. Any
girl with real brains and a little energy and will power can make
herself straight and bestow upon herself a good carriage. It is
entirely a matter of doing and persevering. Most of us know remedies
for our small failings, but how many of us apply them persistently
until a cure is brought about? Few indeed, and more's the pity.
When starting the reform always bear in mind that the chest must be
held upward and outward. When this is done it is not necessary to keep
the shoulders back in a forced, strained position, and so make little
crowfeet in the back of your gown. The benefits of holding the chest
thus are more than one--or two, either, for that matter. If practiced
continually it will strengthen the lungs. It will also develop the
chest and neck as no masseure of miracle-working fingers can ever hope
to. Breathing exercises are also excellent.
Incorrect positions during sleep cause many stooped shoulders. The big
fat pillow of our grandmother's day is the worst kind of a horror. No
pillow at all is best, and after one becomes accustomed to sleeping
that way it will be found much more restful and altogether comfortable.
The best position for sleep is to lie face downward, with the arms
straight at the sides. Of course, I am fully aware that most women
sleep curled up like kittens, but they can change their ways if they
will but try.
The woman with straight, good shoulders never carries her arms heaped
full of bundles, for that draws them forward and makes them droop as
dismally as an ostrich plume in a blizzard. Instead, the "budgets" are
carried with the arms down at the sides. Neither does she clutch the
back of her skirt in that bantamlike fashion practiced by the woman of
less judgment. The back breadths of her new tailor-made are grasped
about six inches from the belt, and held up just so that they clear the
ground. Hats worn deep over the eyes are not desirable, this wise woman
also knows, for however tightly they are pinned to one's back hair,
they are mighty likely to keep one's body at an uncomfortable slant.
The plump woman who wears her hose supporters pinned to the front of
her corsets seldom knows that the constant pulling of the elastics has
a tendency to make her shoulders droop. Shoes of high heels and narrow
toes are equally bad, for the wearer is plunged forward in an
ungraceful and line-destroying attitude. The low-heeled, square-toed
shoe--that is now in vogue--is the thing to wear, and blessed be the
Lord for at last bringing womankind to a rational understanding of what
she should wear on her much-abused little feet!
The tailor-made gown is serviceable as a promoter of good figures, for
usually, unless one keeps one's shoulders back, the front of the bodice
proceeds to lay wrinkles in itself and so spoil the good effect that
women love as they do their pet jelly dishes and their Dresden teacups.
Other things to be remembered are: Always stand on the front or ball of
the foot and keep the knees straight. Carry yourself so that a string
extended downward from your chest would reach the floor without
touching another part of the body. Do not push your head forward and do
not be in a hurry so that you will waddle along like a little duckling
with absolutely no grace or carriage. Dress comfortably, have your
clothing well fastened, and your gown loose enough to give your lungs
opportunity for the full expansion that, for the sake of your health,
they should have. Make sofa cushions of your pillows and sleep always
face downward, flat on the mattress. Last, but not least, don't be a
woeful lady and amble along in a disconsolate, sloppy-weather fashion
that is so utterly hopeless that I could never set before me the awful
task of suggesting a remedy. One of the secrets of happiness and
success is cheerfulness. Men and women and even babies like cheerful
folk, while they will race their overshoes off trying to get away from
the unhappy ones of dismal tales and many worries. Be cheerful, even
though the laundress has washed your best handkerchief into a real-lace
sieve, or the rains and snows of December have descended upon your best
Sunday bonnet and made a pocket edition of a rag-bag thereof, or even
if the gas range has blown itself and all the kitchen windows into the
next block. Be cheerful at all hazards! It pays! Really it does!