Synopses & Reviews
"Single women who have been industrious, and who have boldly carved out a career for themselves, can afford to snap their fingers at lost lovers, and thank the fate that at length designed them for a life of single success rather than the possible one of married misery."
Published in the last years of Queen Victoria's reign, this fascinating book provides unexpectedly sensible, remarkably modern guidance for Britain's unmarried women and girls. In the age of the idealized "New Woman," it encourages activity and even employment ("the more remunerative the better") as an alternative focus, and acknowledges a new era of social change: "We may all some day think no more of the sex in bloomers giving high kicks at football than we do now of cycling skirts and golf-playing."
Advice to Single Women explores the perilous fashion for tight-lacing corsets and the dangers of contemporary cosmetics, in contrast to the benefits of healthy exercise and the emerging trend for practical dress. It weighs the merits of matrimony and the single life, with conclusions to surprise and cheer its readers. And for those still seeking to marry, the book offers a suggestion of Bridget Jones-style guile: "Appear as though you do not, but mind you do it sweetly."
Review
"When readers in the 1890s needed pithy and entertaining suggestions on how to elegantly manage unruly wet umbrellas in crowded omnibuses, whether it was permissible to eat asparagus with a fork and when to raise a hat to acquaintances in the street, they turned to Charlotte Eliza Humphry."
Synopsis
"Work and sympathy are the two great essentials in the making of a beautiful countenance."
"Quite half the effect of one's appearance depends on successfully 'doing the hair.'"
"Brushing the eyebrows and eyelashes every morning with a solution of green tea improves them."
First published in 1899, this forthright guide gives fascinating insights into the beauty strategies of the Edwardian age. Startlingly modern advice on the benefits of sleep, exercise, and fresh air blends with intriguing techniques for washing hair (with egg yolk), brushing teeth (with myrrh and borax), and improving posture (sleeping without pillows to improve an "uncouth gait"). Banishing fashion faux-pas with its breezy common sense, How to be Pretty Though Plain celebrates our enduring preoccupation with looking one's best.
Synopsis
The ladies of
Downton Abbey have made us all intimately familiar with Edwardian standards of beauty and fashion. But just how did the elegant ladies of the period go about making the most of their attractions? Well, one of the ways was through the use of guidebooks like
How to Be Pretty Though Plain, a forthright handbook published in 1899 that covers all manner of approaches to improving ones personal appearance.
Presented here in a facsimile edition, How to Be Pretty offers an array of advice, from tips on cosmetics to more wide-ranging suggestions on lifestyle and habits. A suggestion that ladies brush the eyebrows and eyelashes every morning with a solution of green tea” sits alongside a surprisingly modern take on the benefits of sleep, exercise, and fresh air, while a recipe for myrrh-and-borax tooth powder reminds us that keeping the pearlies white has long been an obsession. As interestingand amusingfor its social history as for the breezy, common-sense tone of its advice, How to Be Pretty Though Plain is a celebration of the enduring preoccupation with looking ones best.
About the Author
Charlotte Eliza Humphry (1854/6-1925) was a prolific journalist and author of several books on domestic management, etiquette, and manners.
Table of Contents
Introductory The Complexion
PART I
Fresh Air the Best Cosmetic
PART II
Water—Cosmetics—Diet—Sleep—Remedies
A Few Beauty Don’ts
Useful Recipes
Care of the Hair, Eyes, Eyelashes, Eyebrows, Hands, and Feet
Care of the Hands, Arms, and Feet
The Figure
On Becoming Dress