FEMININE AGAIN

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 29, 4 February 1932, Page 7

FEMININE AGAIN

THE MISS; OF TO-DAY

PRODUCERS' OPINIONS

NEW , ¥EAE'S MODEL

She.will have a touch, of ,demu?eness, a da?h^o£, coquetry, a discreet halo of femininity^ and the saving "spice of riat-uralnessk-and good sense. She will be neither' fat nor - thin, and will have longiiaar.::! She.will not try to talk and act like^a man, nor will she. dress boyishly^;- "She wiH wear' saucy little 'hats; and ~,clothes ; that will be kinder to curves, than to angles. Ani-ihe >ill be' Miss 1932. Tie authenticity, of . this word portrait painted above is vouched for by two of the'most celebrated' observers and glorifiers of womankind in America— Mr. Florenz Ziegfeld and Mr. Earl Carroll,* writes .Hazel1 Canning; in; the •'.San. .Francisco .Chronicle. 3 If .they agree^in! nothfng:-else,: they are able/to get together on that. r ■ ■ ■

"Style's in girls change as fast!as styles, for' girls do," says Ziegfeld, dean,of. c all the:beauty choosers, for'the Bta'ge;-'^.'.-'.'" .•'.■,'-:.';.;■•'■- :' •.'':' ''i^'--.';--''" •' "They.are {changing now,' before: our very eyes. Standards: are shiftiugiforthe women in Main i street: as well as the .woman of the- stage. :■■'-v '' The flapper' is■; gone ; a • girl; who tries ;to - flap 'is v as silly as one who wears abustie. The hard young w.omari of a year or so,ago is outmoded, too; It's, no-longer 'ciiteto "bo tough.'" ' ' I- dci not know why this is, but it is. People-,are.'tired of the good-fei-lowish maids, as !they are of the-flapper arid her impudence, and the' tremendously!, athletic girl,' who : prided": herself on;, having; a' ; figure that' was straigatrup-arid-downi like "a; mans. i

HER CXTBVES.

"Miss- 1932;wi1l- have curves where curves 'are called for. Delicate- ones! of. course.- . . '

She^ll. dress ;differently,! too. 'Those tricky, little .bonnets, and. the clothes that,igo ;along;-with1 them—theyj call for a.little, mprftfeminirioyfinesse. thanthev,battered; ielts'-that'; girls 'were waring." not, so long, ago. I can't imagine a girl in\o'no, of -them, greeting Bfnend;with.a!Comradely ; "Hi!" I '.'Demnreness: is;cn its ; way; back; Notrall>tho rway,'; niaybW ■No girl: whp ias-inheriied the1 traditions of the last ten years can-really :act as the girls of yore. ' But.-she ,can;be nfore womanly than:she;has.,been, ;and she will be. T,he:men demand' itl"' '.' ■:•-' • ;

"Coquetry is becoming "good form again, too,''"says Mr. Carroll, who' ik nojt the'man/to' let. a- Ziegf eld diet'; him." 'Styles' encourage -it.' The men hunger for .'it. The girls are ready fpr.it.. ■ The- cult-of absoluto- ff.ankness has been' overdone, and the ■'■' time is Hpe'fpr "> ar retreat to:- that ancient feniinine /reticence, i-which.. is, incidentally, the .first- aid,'>tof romance." '; • .--'>

- In: their selections—Carroll ' for his' "Vanities,'' and Ziegfeld for his "Follies'.'—-the famous showmen are stakingv.the.ir^reputations 'on their ■judgment.,' .".. • . • . ;,. :; • ,

Bothf orbid dieting. They 'don'tgo in for. tH©';fat:.type of show girl, :i>np: they dbnft.want'any-:thin ones,,'either. They-desire brains. They get college girls, when -thiey can. Drinking girls are 'nbt';:conßideredJ '■■■-■ Even -too '■' much professipnal; deftness -.with ;a. eigardtte, is' not^selling'ppirit.:-Andyslant-eyed,^ ■wiek¥d;l6oking' besiuties of the.vampirjj type--have- to-be---Y w er-y«gobd^ indeed* io: get a, hearing. ? : : /. y■:

Ziegf eld bans- strenuous exercise ■as

well as dieting. • Carroll -.encourages mild calisthenics If or. his girls, and has a gymnasiumi in his new theatre, but thoy must me ■ moderate ,• about it, or put their jobs-in jeopardy.. .. - "Ziggy" regards the "popularity of present styles as highly significant. The girl.of the immediate future, he says,; will have some' of the mystery, witchery and, allure of .the 18505,; when Eugenic and her Louis, Napoleon were, rulers in Paris, and yet will preserve the best of the qualities discovered in the freedom-seeking years that followed ther'war. In.his quiet momerit^ Ziegfeld will argue earnestly that tho next few months- will see' the evolution of the, most interesting and attraciye. American girl, the bedazzled eyes of men have ever gazed upon; He does not wish to spread the impression that there is to be an unconditional return- to :-the past. - Bather, .he contends,;some of the; airs and graces that; girls, unwisely abandoned .in the. midst of. the 'flapper hysteria will.be. recaptured'and put to work'according to'-'l933'idea's:' .; . . . :

"Girls wero silly.' to- bob their hair," ho. insists.. "In our 'Follies' we are, employing young women who, have woman's crowning: glory intact—and plenty' of it;. A few 'girls , looked fetching'with boyish bobs, '.but'why should a'girl bepfoud of looking boyish? A boy is not proud of seeming girlish. • . .:■.;:; -;..;... : ..■■•'.■■. ' :.-■ -:'-

"Flip shows-girls, are .put,of date, and. we have noiie. 'Light hVads' who caii always be the life of a- partyj but -who"do not.: ':■ know who discovered Aniprica, are also out. The show; girls on- Broadway .stages.'."this-.- winter will show an astonishing, intelligence, average. In a recent trip backstage I sut-J prised V Miss ' Claire Luce ' reading Durarit's work on philosophy,: arid others deep in :Lu'dMg,. Shaw, ' and Dreiser. ; ' ' ' .' ' ' ■;'. '-.-.'• .->"' :; •

"Th'o day has gone wlion' a show girl with one book- was considered highbrow and all stocked up with reading matter.;" . ■'■;■.■ .■.'■'/ ■;. ,•'■" -. ; i

It is-Ziogfeld's vie-#;that in becoming.- a ;bit' mpre,'feniinine and;retiring; Miss 1932 'will.experience; much,relief.

NEABLY PERFECT.

T.ho producer of-"The Follies" does not :expeet' the' modern girls to' go :in for Erapress. : ; Eugenic■'".. extravagance^ Eugenic was a; famous waster," but she fnever worked,for, \ervown, money,'',as most girls do ; npwadays. sNor will they succumb to.,the .faints and vapours .that afflicted : old-time, maidens. Girls .are "healthier and hardier than they,: were. At the back;;of Mr. ;Ziegfeld's mind is a* nearly -perfect: maid,' combining; the' best -features of :'the" friendly-business .w.oman of -to;day ;'arid the ;nice■;home body'of: i.n elder ; generation. " In ■< his own show are- several fine specimen^-of theJ girl "of the future, 'asv he, pictures Tierj ; Cadja .'Eric^'-.a far from. inelsin; chply Dane, is physically just the typej arid mentally, tool She' has sseriou3 stage'.;ambitions,; and; means to play leads before she is ;much older. i

-'■Eriita Casanova's favourite : relaxatio'n^after the .show is writing. Sho gets things published, too<. May.; English plays ..the' violin, as /do. seypral othprs. One, or, .two ,"Follies"' girls aspire .to. write, plays. "".' ' ' ■'.."-..■' :

. '.^iogfeld's,.girls; always.havo>captur'r ,ed.~.their-share.of .millionaires, and; now that the aura.pf especially sweet, femininity is settling down upon.them,,they can; be trusted to ..work more'havoc, in Backers and.Brokefs' Eow than ever. '.

. -Of the many s former.' '.Tollies' 'beauties ' now married to'; rich- men, the best ■known ] are Peggy Fears, wife ■ of: A.; C. Blumenthai; Dpldres; tina • Basquette^ Jean Ackerman,' and Hazel' Forbes. ;

. ■ JTnlike; Ziegfeld, Carroll has specific physical requirements lie: applies to girls . entering liis. showsj',but he and ' the • MFpllies" producer reach about the same, result' by .different, routes. Carroll -demands .girls ,of-i- from to ,325 ppundp, and; ; frpm;.s feet; ; J6'inches -ii| to ,s;feet-i7:;or .S.'Tlie ;wants rounded :but

not plump young women,.with .asimuch intelligence as ho can find. Neither ho nor Ziegfeld agree with Nils T, Granlund that what the. world needs is k show girl .with more; pulchritude ' and less brains., , ' [

In New York,, where, they regard Carroll and Ziegfeld as, clairvoyants able to foresee trends far in advance, there. are many signs that they havO guessed right again. Certainly, the hats ■■ and-gowns .'the Fifth• avenue and Madison avenue.shops are popularising live up to. the tendency these- gentlemen note. .If clothesmake the girl;-as they do\ the man, the brusque and casual young lady'we have grown'used to is to be replaced, by a.creature who will be more, circumspect, if not morij bashful. ' '.-,.' ■; ■..'■",.'.• ■'■■