Society Girls’ Study of Grace

Grace is such on indescribable thing that negatives aid in the definition. It is not graceful to walk on the heels, to take long strides or to raise the foot from the ground more than two inches; it is not graceful to stump or to lay the foot down with a defiant or resounding noise; it is not graceful to square the shoulders soldier fashion or to set the elbows akimbo, as in driving; it is not graceful to hurry, hustle or fuss, for speed is not conducive to grace of motion, save among thoroughbreds.

Society girls have taken up the study of grace, which consists in being gently serpentine. To attain this undulating walk, the head must remain firm, the shoulders droop and the movements come from the hips. In this way there will be no tossing or shaking of the skirts, and the willowy, swaying motion at the waist will emphasize the snake effect sought. For the cultivation of this indefinable charm, walking, next to dancing, is the best exercise, as it brings the muscles into fairly uniform action. The undulations made by the head, chest and torso in a vertical plane are not only productive of Hogarth’s line of beauty but tend to perfect physical health. 

Grace is such on indescribable thing that negatives aid in the definition. It is not graceful to walk on the heels, to take long strides or to raise the foot from the ground more than two inches; it is not graceful to stump or to lay the foot down with a defiant or resounding noise; it is not graceful to square the shoulders soldier fashion or to set the elbows akimbo, as in driving; it is not graceful to hurry, hustle or fuss, for speed is not conducive to grace of motion, save among thoroughbreds. Another foe of grace is self consciousness. The really pleasing, graceful, gracious woman rises above her raiments, and once her toilet is complete she gives no more thought to it.— New York World, 1892

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