Etiquette and a Noble Bearing

Yes, shorter skirts did come into style, yet women still have problems learning to walk gracefully in ill-fitting shoes, which damage the feet and make the problem worse. The image above shows instruction from a 1950’s charm school. It’s called the “Walking Pivot”– “One good effect of short skirts, if ever generally adopted, will be to force women to learn how to walk well. At present they shuffle, mince, turn in one foot, do everything but walk. Nothing commands more respect than dignity of carriage, always excepting elegance and dignity of speech; and when my sex discovers that feet have a higher mission… the reign of noble bearing may set in.”
–Image source, Pinterest

The Mudless Gown

One good effect of short skirts, if ever generally adopted, will be to force women to learn how to walk well. At present they shuffle, mince, turn in one foot, do everything but walk. Nothing commands more respect than dignity of carriage, always excepting elegance and dignity of speech; and when my sex discovers that feet have a higher mission than to be crowded into boots and shoes too small for them, and that corns are an offence against nature, the reign of noble bearing may set in.

“It’s the rarest thing in the world to find a foot with straight toes among women,” say chiropodists. “They lap and over-lap, and frequently are doubled under. As for bunions, well, they are the rule.” No woman with a distorted foot can walk naturally, and it stands to reason that such torturing of the extremities must conduce to physical ailments of various kinds. So turn it which way we will, tight boots are an abomination. Let the apostle of the mudless gown but introduce a fetching covering for the feet and prove herself mistress of the art of walking, and she will go a long way toward breaking down those most formidable of barriers, tradition and prejudice.– Kate Feild's Washington, 1891

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

The Etiquette of Gracefulness

“Of course, you have been told, not only by me but by many others, to balance a large book on your head. It certainly will do much to restore evenness and grace to your walk. When you stand, stand erect, let your mind call your body to "attention"; When you sit, compose your hands, relax your body, be sure that your feet are neither in your own nor anyone else's way. The old etiquette bars the crossing af ankles, but I think most of us do, and I think, too, it is rather more graceful than to place both feet on the floor. If you think about what you are doing you will speedily develop good posture and bearing, and this is not the least of beauty.” – Helena Rubinstein

Do You Stand and Walk with Proper Grace?

By Helena Rubinstein 

Florenz Ziegfeld, who selects the loveliest of lovely girls each year for his musical comedies and revues, claims that there is nothing so rare as the young woman who stands, sits and walks with poise and grace. The average woman, I know does not. Perhaps she does not think of it. I am sure that we should not see so many awkward , almost repulsive positi0ns , if the world were full of mirrors. Do you think, for instance, that a woman would sit with her knees apart if she knew how ugly it was? Do you think she would still insist on very short, very tight skirts, if she knew that when she sat down they rode way up and exposed her knees and thighs? I think not not if she realized that there were probably six girls in a hundred who have really pretty knees, and no girl who can look anything but a little blatant, a little common, a little ugly when she assumes these positions. 

Standing seems simple enough, doesn't it, but I am sure that half of the world, fully half of the time, stand a little crooked, the weight shifted over one hip. If you see it, you won't do it. It is most ungraceful. And then we come to walks. In southern Europe, Hawaii, and the South Seas, women have an exquisitely beautiful carriage. They have learned to walk evenly and smoothly through, balancing weights on their heads. Their limbs are lithe and free, their movement beautiful. The Indians have the same splendid carriage, but we, who are of the effete civilization, have sacrificed much to high heels, binding garters and tight skirts. 

Of course, you have been told, not only by me but by many others, to balance a large book on your head. It certainly will do much to restore evenness and grace to your walk. When you stand, stand erect, let your mind call your body to “attention”; When you sit, compose your hands, relax your body, be sure that your feet are neither in your own nor anyone else's way. The old etiquette bars the crossing af ankles, but I think most of us do, and I think, too, it is rather more graceful than to place both feet on the floor. If you think about what you are doing, you will speedily develop good posture and bearing, and this is not the least of beauty. – San Bernardino Sun, 1928

🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber of The RSVP Institute of Etiquette, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia 

Proper Carriage and Posture

One of the first lessons the young girl learns in fashionable deportment is how to stand correctly. If 10 or 20 girls are asked to take a standing position in a drawing room with nothing to occupy their hands, there may be two or three out of the number who will fall into graceful and attractive positions.

The Charm of Gentle Manners

Deportment is a gentler course in the training of young girl than physical culture. Physical training, however, forms a large part of the foundation upon which good manners are built. The girl who carries herself gracefully on all occasions is like an accomplished actress— has mastered the art which conceals art. Her rhythmic movements, her attractive poses have been so carefully studied that they seem to be perfectly natural. 

One of the first lessons the young girl learns in fashionable deportment is how to stand correctly. If 10 or 20 girls are asked to take a standing position in a drawing room with nothing to occupy their hands, there may be two or three out of the number who will fall into graceful and attractive positions. The others will lean on one foot, drop the arms awkwardly at the side, hold the head at an unbecoming jangle or illustrate any one of the countless other “don'ts” which the young girl must learn to avoid before she is ready to make a good favorable impression in the drawing-room and ballroom.  

Even a wallflower may be decorative if she knows how to stand and sit without expressing in her pose the anxiety of her mind. She can not be an ornament if she is the least bit awkward. The correct standing position, whether one is chatting with a friend in the street in class or in the ballroom, is to balance easily on the balls of the feet, with the body poised in such a way that a quick movement backward or forward can be made without, causing discomfiture to one's self or one’s neighbor. While resting in this position one should always be on the alert for change of position. Do not stand with one knee slightly bent, as so many girls stand unconsciously. They think that standing first on one foot and then on the other, rests them, but it makes them grow tired quicker than if they stood twice as long, balanced evenly on both feet.

Standing on one foot gives the figure a one sided appearance. It makes one hip look larger than the other, one shoulder seems to droop below its mate, and altogether the position throws the body into unsymmetrlcal lines and curves. Keep the knees stiff. This will prevent the one sided effect. One instructor told her girls: “Stand on your bones,” meaning that they should stand with the knee joints rigid and the whole weight of the body evenly distributed on the two feet. As soon as you shift the weight from one foot to the other, you begin to tire yourself and look awkward. Almost any girl will be able to stand in this correct position for a long time without feeling fatigued in the least. And for classwork, this point is well worth remembering, if it has not already been brought to your attention. The girl who is restless when she stands is a burden to herself and a worry to her companions.

Sitting is more of an art than the average girl imagines. The untrained girl drops into a chair and gets out of it any way, but the trained girl becomes a part of the chair when she is seated. First, she learns how to walk up to it, facing the chair, how to swing her body as on a pivot while changing her position, and after her feet are properly placed so that she can sit down gracefully, she gently lowers herself into the chair. When preparing to rise the feet should be placed firmly on the floor, one in front of the other, and the body brought upward by balancing it on the balls of the feet again. 

It more difficult to lift the body to a standing position when the feet are placed side by side, than when one foot is advanced slightly. This position prepares one for the first step in walking to another part of the room or when taking one’s departure. The awkward girl shifts her weight first from one foot to the other and usually has difficulty in getting under way when she could avoid it all by placing her feet in the correct position when she prepares to rise from the chair. After a few lessons, the position becomes quite simple.  – 1911

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Etiquette for a Graceful Walk

 Attendees in 1936, practicing a "charming" walk and posture, at a London finishing school.

I have a friend who was always identified as “an American woman” by the local men when she traveled abroad to Italy and France. Curious as to how the always knew she was American before she ever spoke to them, she asked them just how they knew. “American women walk like men, not women.” they replied. Wow! That's very telling. It got me to thinking: Is how we walk just as important as our focus on walking to get where we are going? I decided to dig through my old, bygone era, charm-school books and see what they had to say about a woman's walk. I wonder if we can still apply these techniques today, with, or without books on our heads?  

Corseted or not, we need to amend how we walk.

As pointed out by a friend, undergarments like corsets and girdles affected how women walked when this book was published, however, corseted or not, I strongly feel we need to amend how we walk today, because there is something to be said for a woman walking gracefully while getting to where she needs to go.

Charts For Correct Foot Positioning

One can use a piece of chalk or a strip of tape to create a straight line for practicing the correct walk. 

Top 10 Tips for a Graceful Walk

1.  The body must be correctly aligned, with the back as straight as possible. To start, the knee bone should be over the ankle bone, the hipbone over the knee bone, shoulder bone over the hipbone and the head over all. Maintain this torso alignment while the legs are in motion.

2.  The step should be no longer than your own foot so that the distance between the heel of the forward foot and the toe of the back foot this not exceed the length of the foot. Do not reach for your steps and do not mince along.

3.  The toes should point straight ahead or be turned slightly outward as models and dancers walk.

4.  There should be no perceptible change of weight from one foot to the other. This can be best achieved by keeping the weight on the balls of the feet and by "pushing off" with the ball of the back foot.

5.  The knees are kept flexed so that they may act as the "spring" for the body to give a smooth, glide appearance.

6.  One foot is placed directly in front of the other on one line. This method gives a feminine look, and when done with balance and grace, might be called "showgirls walk."

7.  The legs swing forward from the waistline so that the hips also move forward and forward. They do not move from side to side, nor do they undulate. This avoids hosiery rub. When the right leg comes forward, the right hip comes forward.

8.  The arms move in opposition to the feet for balance so that when the right foot is forward, the left arm swings forward and vice versa. The hand should swing forward to the toe and backward to the heel. The more vigorous the walk, the more vigorous the hand swing.

9.  The arms should swing relaxed from the shoulders with the elbows held fairly close to the body, but not tight. They should remain relaxed should not bend as the arm comes forward.

10.  Float from the waistline up. Walk from the waistline down. The head, shoulders and upper torso move forward smoothly as though disconnected from the rest of the body.  The control of the walk comes from the midriff, and the leg moves forward from the waistline.

"From here on out, your success will depend upon practicing the foregoing techniques until you have a 'naturally' beautiful walk.

Your walk tells a great deal about you. It reveals carelessness, timidity, shyness, aggressiveness; for it can bespeak the loveliness of you. It is worthwhile to learn "to walk in beauty.'"

From "University Beauty College Guide to Beauty Charm Poise," 1962

By Etiquipedia contributor Demita Usher of Social Graces and Savoir Faire