THE FEMALE FORM

New Zealand Listener, Volume 31, Issue 801, 26 November 1954, Page 5

THE FEMALE FORM

Sir-So no matter how you clothe her, according to "Designer" (Listener, November 5), the poor little large girl will never look "glamorous and feminine" within the "accepted meaning of the term." So much the worse then for terms whose meaning has become so restricted as to be valueless, Fortunately we do not all worship at the shrine of the "boyish and immatpre" figure elevated to the dominant position by our own century, but not by all those centuries which preceded ours. That the slim figure is dominant cannot be doubted by anyone who has studied the many fashion magazines whose sole idea in presenting the "matron" is to iron out those curves which have always delighted the male eye. Since so many designers cling exclusively to this one ideal they are disqualified by the narrowness of their taste from having anything valuable to say on the subject of the larger figure. Though it should not be for the amateur to advise the expert, a certain paucity of imagination in the latter compels me to enunciate one principle disclosed in our Gown selection and cutting of dresses; and that is that it is a mistake to try to pare down the larger figure. Here we should let a proportioned amplitude reign. In other words, don’t let the large woman get into suits and slacks, but try out the full gored skirt, and if the arms and neck are worth while-as they more often are in the larger woman-then make the most of them. Ideas, and variations of this kind on current themes, may not be readily found in our own century, but then it is no new thing for the designer to turn his eyes back to 15th Century tapestries or the more fulsome principles which governed the time of the Baroque. It is obvious that nature even at the peak of her own ideal never intended some women to resemble willows; they more resemble cherry trees in full bloom. The amoynt of work done, or food eaten, bears no relation to coverage, and indeed the taking of benzedrine or other dietary measures often produces a fine mesh of lines around the eyes and

a strained look whith is not at all glamorous within my own understanding of the term. Lastly, I rather dislike the crack about "camouflage," a term which might as easily be turned against any of the devices used as much by the slim as by the larger woman to make the most of

herself,

PETER PAUL

R.

(Christchurch).