Wednesday, January 11, 2017

We can't All be Beautiful

It’s a sad fact of life that some of us – many of us, in fact – have not been born beauties. Not only that, some of us are just plain – well, just plain Jane. We don’t have ravishing locks, or incandescent skin, or kissable lips, or anything to show us as beautiful. 

Being aware of how that affects us, there have always been people who’ve tried to cheer us up. 

There’s the grandmothers’ encouraging words, ‘It’s not what’s on the outside, dear, that matters. It's what's on the inside’. Yeah. Right. Tell it to the thick-headed numbskulls who practically tear off their heads as they follow the progress of a woman definitely not plain. 

And there’s ‘Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder,’ and ‘Beauty is only skin-deep’. But really, do plain Janes find these saying reassuring? 

Of course, historically there has been the odd plain Jane who managed to snare a Prince Charming. But historically beauties have been numerously more successful in that field. 

Still, how does a plain Jane compete? 

One of these successful ladies has been Wallis Simpson. Not a beauty even to her friends who also suggest that her ‘inside’ like her ‘outside’ was not particularly attractive. She has been described as abrasive, aggressive, and rude. 

What was her secret weapon? ‘I am nothing to look at,’ she has been quoted as saying, ‘so the only thing I can do is dress better than anyone else.’  She explained her philosophy as 'You can never be too thin' and 'if you're tired of shopping you are using the wrong shops'. 

When King Edward V111 abdicated to marry Wallis Warfield Simpson, like all brides she decided to adhere to wedding traditions. 

For ‘Something borrowed’ she carried a lace handkerchief which her aunt lent her for the occasion. 

For ‘Something new’ she slipped inside one of her blue suede shoes a gold coronation coin emblazoned with the face of her husband to be. 

No one could see what she had for ‘Something old’, because that happened to be underwear trimmed with antique lace. 

But as to ‘Something blue’ she decided to make it her whole new wardrobe. This included her bridal outfit of a cocktail dress with a fitted jacket, wrist-length gloves, high-heeled sandals, and a hat. The rest of her trousseau of 80 dresses and 40 hats was in the same shade of blue. 

Now that you know the secret, ladies.............(Based on 'Honeymoon! A Sizzle or a Fizzle?').
Find it on Amazon and Smashwords









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