grace: charm school

Showing posts with label charm school. Show all posts

Friday Charm School - How to Sit Like a Lady Part 2

Welcome to Friday Charm School! Today we'll continue practicing sitting like a lady while adding more detailed skills so you'll always look graceful and at ease. Did you become comfortable with sitting down and getting up from a chair this week? If so, let's add some more rules.

While seated, arrange your legs at a slight angle to avoid looking to square and boyish. This will give a more fluid line to the body. You want to subtly draw attention to the curves of your legs. Cross your legs at the ankles or knees.

The more relaxed and quiet your hands look, the better. Let one hand rest easily in the other in your lap, or drape one elbow over the back of the chair and let your hand relax. When shifting positions for comfort, do so slowly and gracefully.

If you are sitting in a slim skirt, you may have to sit a bit more forward in the chair to keep your knees discreetly covered. If you are sitting in a full skirt, place your hand behind you and grasp the center back of the skirt. Bring the skirt out to one side before you sit down.

When sitting on the floor, fold your legs to one side. Your good posture will be a big help here!

Sitting No-Nos:

- Don't sit stiffly with feet and knees in the center. You'll look like a frightened child.
- Don't fidget with your hands. Don't smooth your skirt, play with your jewelry, touch your face, or fuss with your hair. Remember, quiet repose communicates more than words.
- Keep your hands relaxed and still. Avoid clenching, scratching, and twiddling.
- Avoid slouching. Your back should remain erect no matter what you are sitting on.
- Never sit with your legs stretched out in front of you, even when wearing slacks. This look is too mannish.
- If you have heavy legs, cross them at the ankles, not the knees.

Friday Charm School - How to Sit Like a Lady Part 1

Welcome to Friday Charm School! Today's lesson is part 1 of how to sit like a lady. We'll look at how to sit down and get up from a chair like a lady with feminine grace and ease.

1. Approach the chair holding your best posture. Turn so your back leg brushes against the chair seat.
2. Slide one foot back 2-3 inches under the chair seat.
3. Lower yourself into the seat keeping your head erect and your back straight. Most of your weight should be carried by the thigh of your back leg.
4. Ease down into the seat gracefully...don't flop.
5. For deeper seats or upholstered chairs where you can't slip your foot under, sit as above but on the edge of the seat. When seated, lift your weight slightly and slide back.

To rise from a sitting position, simply reverse the above steps. Lift yourself gracefully in one easy motion letting your back leg muscle do the work. Don't push up using the chair arms.

Practice makes perfect with this method of sitting down. Make your practice fun by lining up three chairs of varying heights. Put on some music and practice sitting in each chair in succession. Then do the same reversing the foot you slide back. Repeat until the motion becomes second nature.

Today, notice how you sit down and get up. Try the above rules. This method will probably feel alien and strange at first. Now move a chair in front of a mirror and compare how you look when sitting down normally and how you look sitting with the rules. Is there a difference? Which do you prefer?

Friday Charm School - How to Stand Like a Lady

Welcome to Friday Charm School! Today's lesson is about simply standing like a lady. Even the way you stand when not in motion should be planned to make you look graceful and elegant.

Here are the basics for a proper stance:

- Stand tall with your best posture. (See last week's lesson)

- Place your feet about 2 inches apart. Place the toe of the right foot even with the left arch.

- Rest most of the body weight on the front (left) foot.

- Raise the heel of the right foot so that only the ball of the foot is on the floor. Bend the right knee slightly.

- Rotate the right heel in toward the left foot until it is at a 45° angle. The heel of your left foot is now almost touching your right instep.

- Shift your weight comfortably back onto your right foot so that both feet support you. Your weight should be evenly distributed on both hips.

- Check to see that your hips are turned slightly in the direction that your right foot is pointing. Keep your shoulders and head facing forward.

If you prefer, reverse the above steps so that your right foot is in front. One side will feel more comfortable than the other, but practice both so you can change your stance from time to time when standing for long periods.

What do you do with your hands while standing? Always keep your elbows in close to your sides. Press the forearm of one arm lightly against your waist with palm up and fingers relaxed. Allow your other arm to hang freely at your side.

Or extend both forearms gracefully across the waist, resting the thumb of one hand in the palm of the other. Curve your fingers into a relaxed position.

Thirdly, you can allow both arms to hang easily at your sides with your wrists just brushing the body.

If you are fidgety, put your hands behind your back clasping one hand in the other.

At first, these positions may feel contrived and unnatural, even uncomfortable. But with practice, they will become easy and you'll be on your way to a more graceful appearance!

Friday Charm School - How to Walk Like a Lady

Last year, I did a week-long series of posts on how to move like a lady. The posts were so popular that I promised you more. Here it is, a year later, and I've yet to get back to it. Starting today, I will be posting a lesson each Friday in a series that will probably last several months. These lessons, adapted from a 1962 book, were learned by our mothers and grandmothers as a regular part of growing up, but since the 1970s, they have been lost. May I present "Friday Charm School".

The way you move, stand, sit, use your hands or place your feet silently communicates to the world. A woman should express her beauty not only with her physical features, but in the way she moves with poise and grace.

Poise is not accidental. It is learned. Once you learn how to move with ease, you'll project an inner confidence and elegance that will result in your standing out from the crowd.

Let's start with your posture. Posture is the magic key to a more graceful you. Good posture can make you look regal while wearing a potato sack. Bad posture can make you look frumpy in ermine and velvet.

Grab your camera and have a friend take a photo of you from the side in your normal stance. How does your posture measure up? Check the following:

- Head erect with chin parallel to the floor. You should feel as if a string extends from the top of your head to the ceiling and is pulling the top of your head up.
- Shoulders back and dropped into a relaxed position.
- Chest high.
- Stretch long through the waist with stomach in. Don't let your weight settle down on your hips.
- Tuck buttocks under by tipping the pelvis slightly forward and up.
- Knees relaxed, not locked.
- Elbows slightly bent, palms turned in.

How does your picture compare to the one above? Good posture may feel awkward at first, but with practice it will become relaxed and natural. Become acutely aware of how you are standing and learn to remember a proper stance until it becomes second nature.

Now you're ready to learn how to walk like a lady.

A beautiful walk is the sign of a graceful, poised woman. Start in your good posture stance and follow these steps:
- Lift your thigh slightly. Don't lead with your shoulders.
- For a feminine walk, the space between your steps should be about the length of your foot. Too long a stride is masculine, too short is mincing.
- On each step your heel should touch the floor first, then quickly shift the weight forward to the entire foot as you take the next step. Keep your feet close to the ground when you lift them.
- Arms should hang relaxed at your sides with palms toward the thighs as they swing forward to the front of your body. Shoulders should be relaxed and elbows close to your sides.
- Keep your toes pointed straight ahead and place your feet directly to the side of an imaginary line running down the center.

Clothes, make-up, jewelry...nothing makes an ordinary woman as beautiful as a proud carriage and a graceful presence. Practice your standing and walking in front of a mirror until your muscles learn the correct way to move.

Here are some examples of common walking and posture faults you should avoid. Are you moving like this?

1. The Sway Back - The tummy is thrust forward and the derriere back. The result makes the walker appear back heavy. She waddles and looks shorter, stockier, and awkward.
2. The Off-Balance - She carries too much weight on one side and rolls like a boat in a storm.
3. The Ungainly Stride - She galumphs with large steps, her torso and head behind.

4. The Bird - She walks with an out-thrust neck, sometimes looking down. She looks off balance.
5. The Bouncer - She rises on her toes and drops down on her heels. She moves forward with a rising and falling action, like a bunny hopping down the street.