To Be Perfectly Elegant

No doubt you have long heard these sayings: "You must not judge a book by its cover," or "All that glitters is not gold," or "Tender hearts are more than a garland of flowers." And at this point in your life you have begun to ask yourself: why do people repeat these sayings, when we see that the world gives these words nothing but bare lip service, and goes on judging books by their covers, searching for value in glittering things, and racing headlong after the garland of flowers, preferring it to pure hearts. And what suits our subject still better: the preferring of pretty girls over the plain ones — those with shining hair over those with scraggly heads, and the pretty of form over those with tender hearts.

Let us pause a little and examine this view. Is it not true that young men do not care about a girl's baseness or meanness, so long as she is pretty to look at and well dressed? No — we say that this is not true. At the very least, it is not the whole truth; the truth is that young men, and men, and ladies, and children — the whole human race — love to look upon beautiful things. And in a world spinning around us at a mad speed, leaving little time for petty judgments, we see that people do not trouble themselves much with appreciating the beautiful girl of good character. This may not be a sound judgment, but it is not strange, and it must not be a reason for you to surrender. Do not give in — struggle a little, and look at the facts of social life: most people have neither the time nor the freedom, amid their many private problems, to overlook unclean hair, ill-arranged clothes, and ill-matched colors — or all of these together — in order to see you as you really are, in your goodness, your gentleness, and your intelligence.

And why should you expect this of them? If you are truly beautiful and pleasant and attractive and lovable, will it not show in you — and quickly? With your youth and your vitality, you can appear more beautiful and more graceful of figure than anyone else.

And to be so, look to your coat: if it is not complete, complete it with a pretty handbag, which may be large or small. Then use colored bows, well matched with a nice scarf, to change your look a little. Learn to wear town shoes with simple clothes; and I think you know perfectly well how to use perfumes, and then which jewelry you should wear with your formal clothes, which kinds of belts suit your figure for you to wear, and how much that belt means on your precious blouse and the skirt you love.

Know, Madam, that the difference between being perfect and being pretty is only a little attention to detail. Yes, it is always the small touches that make this great difference in you and in your appearance.