your perfect poise
Confidence in your looks and clothes will give you that envied, self-assured feeling, says HELEN TEMPLE .
Accepting a compliment gracefully makes the moment even lovelier
TALKING point
Bad at conversation? Have a few stock questions ready, "Have you been away on holiday?" or "Which is your favourite TV programme?" are the kind of opening gambits that get a conversation going
But don't rest on your laurels. Remember conversation is like a game that needs your co-operation. Don't say just "Yes" or "No." add a remark
When you leave, say your goodbye with a smile, adding how much you have enjoyed the meeting. And then leave, don't hover. A guest who can't make up her mind to go is almost as embarrassing to her host or hostess as she surely is to herself
IT takes hours of concentrated practice and a lot of money to groom a film star, ballerina, or even a top model girl to the poised perfection they personify. But poise is really a natural heritage that not only people in the public eye, but you and I can develop, just by taking a little extra trouble with ourselves and our appearances.
It's simple. Poise springs from self-assurance, confidence that you're interesting as a person, attractive as a woman. "Interesting" doesn't necessarily mean brilliant as a wit or conversationalist. A good listener is usually a well-poised girl.
An interest in other people, in the things happening round you, can make you forget yourself and lose self-consciousness, the greatest enemy of poise.
It's especially important not to let self-consciousness intrude when you're paid a compliment, whether it's in words or in the subtle form of flowers. Let your pleasure show in, the sparkle of your eyes and smile, in the quiet and graceful way you murmur: "Thank you."
Of course, it isn't easy to forget yourself unless you're sure that your appearance is the very best that you can make it. Remember how you felt that day when were wearing wearing your new suit, your hair fresh from the stylist's comb? On top of the world, ready for anything, in other words, poised.
Naturally, you. can't wear new clothes and a fresh hairstyle every day, but you can keep all your clothes in tip-top condition and really plan your beauty routine.
Start with hair. If you know that yours gets wispy and unmanageable the first day after shampooing, arrange to wash it two or three days before any special date. If the unexpected happens, you can insure against being windblown by spraying, after arranging your hair in the favourite style, with a special lacquer you can buy for 8s. 6d. (about $1.19)?
Hair perfection
But aim to look your best all the time, not only for special dates. If your hair is oily and begins to look bedraggled after three or four days, change your routine and wash it twice in ten days instead of once a week. It's always worth it.
If your hair is very fine and weaves itself all round your face at the first gust of wind, you'll look prettier and much more poised in a hat. If it isn't one that stays put by itself, buy a decorative hatpin and skewer the offender firmly into place.
A heavy make-up may look wonderful just after you've applied it, but it's difficult to maintain throughout the day and especially on evening dates. Your make-up stands the best chance of staying lovely till the end of the evening if you choose a light textured foundation and spread it sparingly.
However carefully we look after diet and skin, that sudden spot can happen to the best of us. Don’t panic and squeeze. Don't wail about it. There's a stick cosmetic on the market that completely camouflages minor disasters of this kind. It costs 8s. 3d. (about $1.16)? and it really works.
Are you an ear-ring fiddler? Buy some self-adhesive eartips for just 1s. (about 14 cents) a card. Slipped behind a too-tight earclip, they relieve that pinch.
Fiddling of any kind, whether it's with your pearls curls, the cutlery or the mustard pot, is disconcerting and discourteous to the person you're with. If you're doing it from nervousness, here's a good tip for relieving tension. Just fold your hands in your lap, out of sight, and pinch one finger hard. You'll be so busy concentrating on the pain that you simply won!t have time to feel shy or awkward.
Now for the way you stand and sit, most important. When you sit down; try to place yourself gracefully on the centre of your chair and, unless your, legs are wand slim, don't cross them. It makes for bulges and nylon snags and is bad for circulation, too.
As we walk, we all tend to bob up and down or roll slightly from side to side. Actresses are taught to walk so that they seem to glide along. The trick is scarcely to lift your feet from the ground.
This doesn't mean shuffling but, simply lifting each foot gently and swinging it through for the next step, just clearing the ground by fractions of an inch replacing it with your weight on the ball of the foot. Get plenty of practice in front of a full-length mirror.
Even if it means setting the alarum fifteen minutes earlier or spending an extra evening at home each week, those few extra moments of practice and preparation are well worth it. When you look your best, you feel your best, and then it's almost difficult not to be poised!
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