Screenland (May-Oct 1934)

for September 1934 91 portant that I will repeat it : Good posture has a great deal to do with your apparent weight. Maybe you actually haven't a "spare tire" but if you stand as though you had, what Hollywood director would look at you if he met you face to face? Claudette Colbert was saying the other day that when she got her first part on the stage, it was the fashion for all the younger girls to affect what they called the "debutante slouch" — that is, to stand with their stomachs well in front of them, their chests caved in and a general air of having been thrown across the room and not having pep enough to straighten up. This weird attitude was adopted, Claudette thinks, because it happened to be the style to look like a boy instead of like a girl, and standing upright would have revealed the fact that the girl hadn't the flat chest of a boy ! Today, it's not supposed to be to her credit to have a figure either like a boy's or like a slate pencil, so the good carriage is back. You aren't in fashion unless you can stand up and walk as if you were proud of yourself. You can't do much by assuming correct posture only once in a while — when you're looking yourself over in the mirror in the morning, for instance. It's something that must get to be a habit. Incorrect posture can cause sagging neck muscles, double chins, round shoulders and flabby busts. And the relaxed drooping carriage of the spine makes for the accumulation of fat oyer hips, thighs, and abdomen. An erect posture makes a person actually taller and slimmer, while a slouch emphasizes any tendency toward surplus flesh at throat, bust, or abdomen. Hold the body as tall as possible without actually rising on the toes. In this position, there is the • largest space available for the organs; the muscles of the front, sides, and back are in perfect balance, none are strained ; the head is erect and so poised that none of the muscles are overworked. Every time you are standing — whether you're in line at the box-office, waiting for a bus, or just gossiping over the neighbor's fence — think of your posture and practice it. In a week's time you'll see an improvement in your carriage; in six weeks, you'll wonder how you ever stood in that slumped-over way, for correct posture really rests you and it certainly makes you more attractive. Here's a good exercise for reducing that hip line: Clasp your hands back of your head and rotate the body forward and downward from right to left and from left to right. The following exercise is excellent for flattening the abdomen, but it takes two people to do it, preferably a man and girl, unless you can find a very strong girl to help you, when two girls can manage it together. The girl lies face down on the floor, arms outstretched, toes touching the floor boards. Man stands over her, straddling her body; he bends down and clasps her hands, bends her body backward in an arch and lowers her to the floor again. Do not do this until you are tired. The minute you feel weary, stop it. Another waist-slimming exercise can be done by yourself : Put your left foot up on wall bar or small table. Raise the arms above the head and swing them down to touch the left toes. The right foot will be on the floor in what is known as first dancing position, squarely pointed to the right. Then lift the arms and turn entire body (left leg turning on the wall bar as you do so;, and touch the floor with the fingers. Then swing up once more and this time bend the body forward and rest the head on the left foot. Repeat with the right foot on the wall bar. Needless to say, this exercise is for girls who are able to do ballet dancing steps and should not be attempted if you are stiffjointed, until you have made yourself supple with other exercises. The woman who wants to be attractive and really young after her third decade must see to it that her body keeps up the active habits of her earlier years, and she should pay particular attention to keeping her muscles supple and flexible. Grace of movement in walking, standing, and seating oneself depend largely on the responsiveness of the muscles and tendons controlling the knees. An excellent knee exercise is this one : Stand with both feet turned slightly outward, one foot advanced a little in front. Rise on the balls of the feet, then slowly flex the knees deeply; rise up again, and lower the heels. Repeat six to ten times. Follow this by the second exercise in this series : Stand erect, hands on hips. Take a long step forward with the right foot. Bend both knees so that left knee touches the floor. Rise quickly and step forward on the left foot, flexing the knees as before. This time the right knee touches the floor. Take twenty long steps with knee bendings. As you may have noticed, the knee joint is not so beautifully formed as the ankle. Slender people are likely to have knobbly knees and overweights have bulky ones. Fat knees are perhaps the worst looking. There's a bunch of muscle on the inside and the whole joint is swathed in fat. The average fat knee will respond to systematic exercise, but be sure it is systematic, and not something you do Monday morning and forget Tuesday and then Wednesday you have time for only one or two bendings and flexings, and Thursday you forget again, and then Friday you're too lazy and Saturday you feel : "Oh, what's the use — my knee's just as fat as it ever was !" The thin knobby knee is usually weak. It bends inward, producing what are called knock-knees. Tall young girls who are underweight for their age and size, often have this sort of knee, and wearing too high heels aggravates it. The remedy in a case of this kind is a general gain in health and weight, combined with correct choice of footwear, and correct posture when standing, walking or sitting, that will protect leg muscles from undue strain. If you are eager to reduce, you should stand up or walk around a little after each meal instead of sinking into a comfortable chair or lying down. It's a good idea to cultivate some active outdoor hobby, especially if you work indoors most of the time. The body needs daily exercise. Some people need more than others do, but if you can't spare more time, ten minutes night and morning will keep you in fairly good condition. The muscles in the back become flaccid when they're not kept in trim by regular exercise._ I've noticed that most women spend little or no time on developing shapely backs. _ Maybe it's because they so seldom see their own rear view ! If lumps of flabby flesh have already formed at the back of the waistline, they may be reduced by massage. If you can't get to an expert masseur, you may perhaps manage a self-massage, lying face downward or on the side and using the cupping and slapping massage given in the last article on the stubborn flesh. The bicycle exercise is very good for this "fat back" ailment: Lie on the floor. Raise hips and legs from the floor and move legs _ as pedaling a bicycle upside down. This will strengthen leg muscles. Stationary running for several minutes night and morning is something that can harm no one and is not difficult to do. Try it tonight. KISS HI WITH LIPS . . . not lipstick! Color-change principle makes Tangee part of Lips, not a smeary Coating! WHEN the man you like kisses you, be sure he thinks of your lips as lips . . . and not as a coating of paint. Of course, to be your loveliest, you must use lipstick. But it's easy to color your lips beautifully without painting them. Simply use the lipstick which isn't paint! 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