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The Aesthetic Desideratum.

Much has been written and more spoken of late concerning the prevailing mode of shingled locks among our youthful beauties (and others). It will be generally conceded that a distinct advance in hairdressing is to be traced down the centuries. There have been occasional experimental periods of hygienically shortened tresses, but in the main, woman's "crowning glory has been considered to be in a state of perfection when long and unwieldy.

The post-war shingle, inspired by Luxor, marks a definite step in the emancipation of woman from the tyranny of the tress. Sport renders the shingle a necessity—chignon and pad vanished when croquet lost its prestige among the young.

Moreover, a new standard of beauty is being set up. The gracious contours of the head, so long obscured by a fungoid superstructure, are at last revealed.

There is a greater advance in this fact than might appear to mere superficial observation. The ruthless removal of all deceptive impedimenta is possible only in an age where Truth is triumphant, Sincerity the slogan.

Important as is this step, however, is it necessary to rest here? Woman must shed the remnant of her hirsute appendage before she can claim absolute beauty. It will need several generations of assiduous training, we fear, before this ideal is accomplished, but what scope lies before the pioneers of such a movement! The ultimate perfection is as yet far from attainment, but the good work must not be allowed to lapse.

The advance in aesthetics would be equivalent to the gulf that separates the thatch of the peasant's cottage from the marble tiles of the Parthenon.

To those hidebound Philistines who advance the objection that woman's crowning glory is her hair, we need vouchsafe but one reply: the perfect crown that lies concealed will radiate a more effulgent rosy glory in the future. Such objectors are unlikely to be convinced of the worthiness of the Cause, but Time' will eliminate them. Our task lies in the education of the young up to the higher aesthetic principles involved.

At present, be it understood, there are very few who appreciate the inner worth of the new principle. One has only to look round to observe the almost universal derision which falls on those fortunate few—men unconscious of their special blessings—to perceive that the Philistine element bulks largely. The aged bald, however, will receive their reward from a later generation, though they may little appreciate it now, born as they are before their time.

A more cogent argument against the cultivation of hairlessness is the difficulty of permanently eradicating the hair, but we would suggest, in addition to the various chemical depilatories now on the market, a serum prepared from our reverend but glabrous seniors. These fortunate bald would be only too happy to contribute of their garnered wealth towards this noble end.

The task we propose is not impossible—to realise this we have only to regard the prevalence of clean shaving among the page 11 men of to-day. It is merely a matter of decades since the beard was omnipresent, and "Beavers' the rule rather than the exception. It is indeed too much to hope that this present era will see the new movement carried to a successful conclusion, but we who inaugurate it can enter the twilight of our days secure in the knowledge that the Golden Age is so much the nearer by our unremitting efforts.

—Medusa.