MICHAEL WALSH AWARD-WINNING WRITER: The end of the alpha male, manhood and the increasing feminization of men is a matter of much comment. The ladies can lament all they like; femininity, femme class and style have also disappeared.

Was there ever more elegance and style than when women habitually wore fur stoles, veils and dress gloves? I am reminded of U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s wife, Nancy Reagan, when being received by the Pope. Simply by wearing a veil this otherwise ordinary lady is transformed into an almost saintly figure.

Actress Sophia Loren expressed femininity as few can, especially when wearing a face veil or shoulder stole. Approaching her eightieth birthday this enthralling actress continues to add to her allure by wearing a broad-brimmed hat and veil. So did countless other fashion icons such as Ingrid Bergman and Audrey Hepburn, the opera diva Maria Callas.

Given these stars’ enigmatic beauty and presence what fashion icons today hold a candle to them?  Actresses and film stars, even at the beginning of their careers could flaunt it immodestly.  All that was necessary to turn heads and attract admiring glances was to toss a fur stole over the slim shoulder with a certain panache. 

Pulling on filigree-laced elbow-length dress gloves underscored elegance and style. For added allure surely a fashionable hat and pretty face tantalizingly half hidden by a veil.  This was at its most effective when decorously done as it was by Princess Diana. 

Dress gloves showed real taste.  They are being seductively pulled on or off exposing a man’s weakness for a woman’s slim hand and forearm. A lady never removed her glove to shake hands; men were obliged to do so. This distinction added emphasis to the social differences between the genders.

Shawls are another social matter. I never met a woman who wasn’t devoted to either her shawl or her stole. Stoles were worn for style in high places whilst shawls were for those considered less fortunate. 

Popular in Spain, flamenco artistes swirl a shawl with mesmerizing effect. Of course, the donning of such fashion accessories demands confidence without which the gesture is rather pointless.  Oh, they had plenty of that too.

I recall an experience when as a 16-year-old sailor I was a passenger in a New York yellow cab as it made its way along Fifth Avenue. The lights ~ and the world stopped right there for everyone fortunate enough to be in sight of her. 

Fascinated, we plebeians watched a young woman, likely a movie star, as she crossed Fifth Avenue to approach what I think was Macy’s department store. That woman if she was dressed in what passes for fashion today would be considered ordinary.

MICHAEL WALSH AWARD-WINNING WRITER/POET

Not on this occasion. This upwardly mobile young woman was taking the advice of iconic movie star Errol Flynn; walk like you own the earth. For a few brief moments, she did so and the world stopped.  With her sweet nose in the air and aware that all eyes were on her she flaunted her femininity as few can: Marilyn Monroe comes to mind. The image of her as she flamboyantly crossed that busy city avenue stayed with me all these years.

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