In the comments to my entry about beautiful women, Kristy lamented the fact that there are so few really glamorous celebrities today. She wondered if it is because the Hollywood starlets are childish, and that got me wondering: what are the prerequisites for glamour?
*Age. Kristy is entirely correct. A woman needs to be at least thirty before she can achieve glamour, and even that is a stretch. With age comes confidence and the ability to be comfortable in one's own skin, as the French say. It takes a few decades for a woman to make friends with her idiosyncrasies. (I refuse to call them flaws.) That confidence is utterly essential for a woman to be truly captivating. She has developed a personal style. She knows what haircut flatters her bone structure, what fragrance suits her own natural scent. She has made a study of herself and understands the importance of her walk and her voice. She has an entire arsenal of weapons at her disposal, and wields them all with grace and enthusiasm.
*Discipline. For a woman to be truly glamorous, she must be groomed. Ragged nails, torn cuticles, drooping hems, worn heels, limp hair, battered handbags, chapped lips--these are the hallmarks of a woman who places a higher priority on everything else in her life besides her appearance. Walk into any grocery store in the country and you will see exactly what I'm talking about. There will be women, a LOT of them, sporting bedheads and wearing their husbands' sweatshirts. If that's how they choose to present themselves to the world, well, bless their hearts. They are going to be comfortable, but they won't be remotely fabulous. (And I am darkly suspicious of any woman who claims that rolling out of bed and going in public without the slightest swipe of makeup, wearing unflattering clothes and mandals, is truly comfortable.) It takes effort to put your best foot forward, and that foot should be decently shod. Personally, I take half an hour to get ready, and that includes the time it takes me to dress, a perfectly respectable investment for the day, I think.
*Mystery. You have to leave something to the imagination to be glamorous. I am beyond tired of the "crotch-watch" shots being taken of every young starlet in Hollywood. (I mentioned this in my entry "In which I wonder what happened to the tease." I needn't have bothered. They are STILL running around without underwear.) Never mind the fact that their mothers should have taught them how to get in and out of a car without flashing their nethers. Someone should have handed them a copy of Forever Amber and sat on them until they read it. There is one pivotal scene during which Amber, trying to retrieve the attentions of the king, puts on a flamboyant and faintly obscene display of flesh in public. Too late, she realizes that by flaunting herself she has permitted herself to be judged and found wanting by anyone and everyone. She has offered herself as a public commodity, and cheapens herself irretrievably. (Sound familiar?) In our show and tell culture, we know FAR too much about celebrities these days, and most of it is seriously distasteful. (They should also be given a copy of The Lingerie Handbook and forcibly restrained from going out in public until they can write an essay on the importance of underclothing. If nothing else, they should be taught that undergarments themselves can be devastatingly glamorous.)
*A sense of humor. A woman with eyes like a dead fish--serious and cold--will never be glamorous. Women like Constance Bennet and Carole Lombard were beautiful, yes, but they were also funny and engaging and able to appreciate the absurdity of life. Nothing is as alluring as a person who is having fun. Fun is seductive, and a plain woman who knows how to enjoy herself will always score over a dull beauty.
*Intelligence. A plain woman can achieve glamour with a great deal of effort. A stupid woman never can because she lacks the imagination to conjure a better version of herself. She will never cast herself as the heroine of her own story because she has no story.
*Self-awareness. A glamorous woman is aware of the effect she has, and she uses it quite deliberately. Glamour is never an accident. It is purposefully reaching out to draw others into the warmth of your charmed circle. A glamorous woman knows precisely how to make you feel comfortable and is genuinely interested in enjoying your company. She understands that when she smiles at you, she can leave you dazzled. She loves to turn on her full charm and watch you fall under her spell--a glamoury is an enchantment, remember. She knows that she is not always the most beautiful woman in the room, but she is always the woman who has put the most thought into herself and into you. She knows that simply by holding herself like a beautiful woman, by walking like a beautiful woman, by using a beautiful woman's gestures, she will be perceived as beautiful. And since glamour is an illusory quality, isn't that all that matters?
(I'm thinking Cate Blanchett might be our best role model as a glamorous woman. She is a consummate professional, usually beautifully turned out, extremely gracious, and I have never seen anything bared above her knees.)
