List No. 071

HOW TO ATTAIN SMARTNESS

Edna Woolman Chase

1954

In 1914, having steadily worked her way up from the mail room, Edna Woolman Chase became editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine, a role she held until her retirement 38 years later. Two years after stepping down, Chase wrote her autobiography, Always in Vogue, in which she presented a list of advice for ladies on “how to attain smartness”.

Perhaps this is as good a place as any to set down, as concisely as I can, [the] code on how to attain smartness that, over a long life and through years of dealing with a capricious art, I have found to be the most serviceable. Much of it is obvious, but every season new, young eyes become style-conscious and I believe it bears repetition.

Point #1: Study yourself with the unblinking eye of your meanest enemy. Could that throat, so like a swan to your lover, perhaps be considered a long, skinny neck, thrust forward at a cranelike angle, by one who cares for you less? Or could that short neck and submissive little chin, which make you so cuddlesome, could they, with the years, develop into a thick, indeterminate oneness, with that middle-aged hump at the back? Are your legs or upper arms too thin or too fat? Do you have pretty hands and nails, so that you can permit yourself eye-attracting gestures and jewelry, or are they large and capable, profiting from a decent anonymity? And your hair? Is it sexy or serviceable? This questionnaire could go on indeterminately, but its point, I think, is clear. Your person is the material you have to work with.

Study yourself with dispassionate eyes and in a three-ply mirror. It is a grueling ordeal, but it pays off. Remember your enemy, the rival who sees you always in 3-D. Make sure you are at least as well informed as she.

Point #2: This does not have to do with clothes; it does have to do with good grooming, a vital part of fashion, and I think it is valid. Set your dressing table in front of a window, so that the uncompromising light of day will fall evenly upon your face when you are making up. If, because of architectural reasons, this is impossible, place it so the light, day or artificial, comes equally from both sides. This will help you to achieve a well-blended make-up and to do your hair becomingly. Also always have your hand mirror within reach, that you may see yourself from the side and back as well as from the front.

Point #3: Choose for yourself clothes that play up your good points and subdue your bad. Have you pretty legs, but a thick middle? Perhaps your hips depress you, but from the waist up you are a Tanagra figurine? Or have you the lean, lithe flanks of a Diana yet are overly emphasized above? For this silhouette the French have an apt expression: “Beaucoup de monde au balçon” — a lot of people in the balcony. These are the assets and defects you must be aware of.

Know thyself and dress accordingly is the great fashion edict. Certain cliche warnings on the whole are probably sound; if you are partridge-plump a print of cabbage roses may not be for you. On the other hand, if you are small and slim the dictum that you should wear only “dainty” jewelry is groundless. If you yearn for chunks, go ahead. A massive bracelet makes a slender wrist more fragile. There are times when the truly chic woman achieves style and individuality through breaking with tradition, but remember! Revolution takes experience. It can take money as well, which brings us to…

Point #4: In fashion do not have the courage of your mistakes. Since you are human you will make them, yet if you want a reputation for elegance hide them. They are expensive, yes, which is one reason you should read Vogue, so that you will make fewer of them, but you must be brave. If you’ve pulled a fearful boner, if the dress or hat so beguiling in the shop is a dud in the home, pitch it out. Give it to some dear relation or send it to the thrift shop: don’t wear it. To be considered well dressed, you must be it continuously. Not in fits and starts.

Point #5: Select clothes appropriate to the life you lead. The wildly inappropriate garment is usually the mistake of youth, before the discipline of taste and budget has had the time to sink in. Although the temptation may be strong, even in maturity, to purchase the dress that would be knockout for a unique occasion and completely out of key the rest of the time, unless you’re rich, don’t succumb. Compromise. Obviously, if you sense that a certain ravishing garment will cause him to pop the question don’t be a fool. Buy it.

Point #6: The allotment of budget. There are certain articles in one’s wardrobe on which one not only may, but should, splurge. Within reason, of course. Remember this is a Quaker speaking. A good cashmere sweater will last for years. Your winter coat should be the very best you can afford. It is meant to survive several seasons, keep you warm, and be worn every day. The same is true of your tailored suit. It should be of good fabric and well cut. Also your street shoes should be the best. Smart, comfortable, and with a medium heel. For walking the city streets they should not have open toes and heels. This misbegotten fashion I have already dwelt on at length. Keep your shoes in good repair; you prolong their life indefinitely.

Economize on evening slippers. They are fragile and unless you are a debutante the wear you exact from them will probably be limited. If you are a debutante you will want several pairs, but they need not be expensive.

Point #7: Don’t buy too much. There is nothing to sap the morale and dull the appearance like a closet full of half-worn, no-longer-at-their-peak clothes. With the exception of the aforementioned staples — coats, sits, and street shoes, which should last several seasons — buy only what you need at the time, make it serve you well, and get rid of it.

Point #8: In your wardrobe consider color carefully. If you use restraint you will find it makes both for elegance and economy. This does not mean you have to be drab and monotonous; if your clothes are interchangeable, shoes and accessories doing duty with several dresses and suits instead of only one, you will achieve greater variety at less cost. Don’t get a blue hat and a red bag and a brown coat and black shoes, each good in itself but as incompatible as whisky and wine. Plan your wardrobe as a whole. Don’t just buy it, compose it.

Point #9: Consider color; don’t get set in concrete as to what colors you can and cannot wear. To be adamant on the subject of black or brown, shrimp pink or almond green is nonsense. Quite possibly with the right shades of rouges, lipstick, and powder we can wear them. Another thing to remember is that as we grow older we can frequently change our color spectrum with flattering results.

Point #10:

A: Dress your age. A hat that really belongs above a mature, thoughtful face is far more flattering, and incidentally in better taste, than a cute pixie cap. Clothes that are too young paradoxically make their wearer look older. Remember that the interesting men of the world like women who appear youthful but who are not pathetic carbon copies of the girls they were. On the other hand, clothes that are too sophisticated do not imbue the youthful wearer with the femme fatale look she longs to achieve, but tend, on the contrary, to give her a comically childlike appearance.

B: As you grow older, cover up. Aging flesh is not appealing. Whether a Bikini bathing suit on a charming young body is modest or immodest is a matter of the current mode or local morals or good taste; it has nothing to do with aestheticism, but too much revelation of a figure that is too thin, too fat, or too old can be lamentable.

For the older woman, misty tulle scarves in the evening or little jackets or stoles are pleasant bits of decorative fancy.

Point #11

A: Stand up when you buy a hat. This may sound daft, but it is rooted in wisdom. Few ladies, we trust, are so foolish as to buy a hat without viewing it from the profile and three-quarter angles as well as from the front, but many a lady fails to realize that her hat must be integrated with the rest of her, that it must be in proportion to her entire body. If you see what you secretly feel to be an enchanting reflection in the milliner’s mirror, restrain yourself yet a moment. Stand up, move a few feet away, and view yourself in the altogether. Are you small, so that under a wide brim you look strangely like a gnome under a toadstool? Are you tall, so that too small a hat is reminiscent of a thimble on a broomstick? What looks enchanting in one dimension, sitting down, may be a different story in the round and long.

B: Just as you should stand up when you buy a hat so should you sit down when you buy a dress. It may be all good when you are erect, but how does it sit? Is it so full that it lies in puddles on the floor? Does the wrap-around skirt fall open? Is it so tight that it rides above your knees? Sit down in it in front of the mirror, and then walk, enough to make sure it doesn’t bind. There is nothing more aggravating than a too narrow skirt on one who likes to stride freely.

Point #12: Pare down the nonessentials. This does not mean eschew jewels and flowers, scarves and bows and hair ornaments; it does mean to use them with discretion, to integrate them into your costume so that they are a deliberate accent, the perfect finishing touch. The observer, and you, should feel that with whatever you have chosen you are complete. Without it there would be something lacking. This system is infinitely more satisfactory than tossing gewgaws on yourself because they happen to be kicking around the bureau drawer.

Point #13: Let us now suppose your wardrobe is admirably chosen from every point of view and that even if you are wealthy you have adopted as your own a slogan I coined for Vogue long ago: “More Taste than Money.” It is still so much our philosophy of good dressing that annually we bring out a “More Taste than Money” issue, proving our premise in page after page of fashions that are admirable rather than costly.

The same point of view has resulted in our more recent and very popular “Young Nillionaire” feature. Taste is better than money at any age, but if one has youth, a good figure, and is well informed on fashion, thanks to the ready-to-wear industry and Vogue’s guidance, one can be well dressed on surprisingly little outlay.

Yet even when every article is chosen with foresight and taste there is still one great fashion law to bear in mind. As in cooking or bartending, so in good dressing: the mixture is the secret. Never be guilty of wearing fancy shoes with a sports costume, an elaborate hat with a simple tailored suit. Do not wear long earrings for traveling or carry a businesslike leather bag with a filmy summer frock. Ask yourself always, Am I harmoniously put together, am I appropriately clad for the deed at hand, and I free of nonessentials? If you can truthfully answer yes, you are a well-dressed woman.