Just a spoonful of sugar.

Role Model: noun
Someone worthy of imitation.
dictionary.com

Mary Poppins, practically perfect in every way. A perfect role model, isn't she?
She's everything the word "ladylike" describes.

She's proper, and well mannered. She's got a "cheery disposition", she's "kindy & witty", and is "never crossed".
I think there's quite a lot to learn from her.
So I took the features and values that make Mary Poppins so special and practically perfect in every way, things every girl should have and learn, things that remain that have always been and forever will be, but trying to apply them to out contemporary lives.
I took these characteristics out of Jane & Michael's advertisement.
You can read the whole transcript here.


A "cheery" disposition.
A smile can open a thousand doors. Being cheery and kind to people can truly make a difference. People feel the difference. How do you feel when someone makes a grimace to you? And when someone's cheery and smiles?

Be positive.
Even when it's about doing boring and fastidious chores, stuff we don't wanna do, being positive turns the whole situation upside down. Let's say you have to wash the dishes. You have to do it. Stop thinking about what would you do if you didn't have to, and stop wasting time and energy complaining. You could be halfway finished by the time you realize complaining is not going to get you anywhere.
Turn things around. Make it more fun. Put some music on, or challenge yourself on doing something, or how to do it.
Always remember: "Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, the medicine go down..."

Be kind and witty.
Yes, be kind a witty.
Take an interest on learning things. Develop your mind. It doesn't have to be maths and physics, but try to enhance your mind by reading or learning interesting things. Whatever you like, fashion, history, famous quotes, gardening, cupcakes, or just random stuff.
And be kind. As great as you might be (and I know you all are), as smart, as beautiful, and talented...always be kind to others. There's nothing worse than snotty people, who make other people less just to feel and appear more. I think that's one of the worst kinds of people. It shows a tremendous lack of self-esteem and security.
But I know none of you are like that. You are all very kind, and share what they know with others, and offer their help when they can.

Never be cross or cruel.
This is a hard one. Never be cross. It's quite challengning! You know, I get stressed and cross easily, and it's one of my purposes to change that. People doesn't forget about you being cross, and by saying cross I mean being ill-humored, snappy, tempered, which usually come from being stress, and you can create a reputation for being grumpy, which I think, is not very ladylike. Nor very nice. There's a difference on being headstrong, and determined and being stubborn to the point of getting angry and cross.
If you are cross, well then, take a deep breath. Be proactive. You can't change the situation, but you can change how you react. If you're all stressed out and grumpy and someone says something to you that just makes you explode, press pause! Don't be snappy or cruel.
Just ignore it. You'll see you feel so much better, and you'll feel good with yourself for controlling your impulse

Be sweet and pretty.
One of a girl's most charming features is being sweet. Girls who swear and act so boyish like are not very nice to see. Unfortunately, we see a lot of this these days. And I'm not gonna lie to you, I swear sometimes, I do. But there's swearing occasionally and there's being a complete potty mouth.
Girls are supposed to be sweet and charming, well-mannered. And this doesn't mean that women shouldn't stand for themselves and be independent, it's a matter of being both, of course!
I mean, what use would it have to be so prepared when you are ill-mannered, absolutely not diplomatic, and are rude and impolite? You wouldn't get very far would you?
Now, about being pretty, if there's something we remember of Mary Poppins is she's always impeccably dressed, with beautiful attires always so classic, proper and elegant.
Her hair always flawless, perfect rosy cheeks and lips. Under-dressed is not a word in Mary's vocabulary.

I even searched for some style ideas and products to dress a la Mary Poppins.

(Product Information)

Obvious color scheme: white, blue and black with the red scarf.
It's easy.
A white blouse or shirt, extra points if it has ruffles and cute buttons. A dark cerulean blue, or a bright navy blue skirt. Above I chose high-waisted skirts because those are the ones I consider would be more appropriate, but feel free to choose!
You can go with white tights, sheer or with patterns, or black too. But I think white would look better...mais oui!
To keep this outfit to being just an outfit and truly transforming it into Mary Poppin's style, the red scarf is essential, next to the black coat.
A pair of oxfords of course...b&w, or just black. And oh, please, don't forget to stand with your feet open, almost like a ballerina, just like she did.
Now, accessories. White gloves or wristlets. If you're going sans gloves, use a pretty ring. I chose a red rose ring because she has a red flower in her hat. Talking about the hat...this is the only part I consider a little complicated, so instead I whose a black headband with a bow. You could get away with it with just a ribbon or something. A red or black ribbon.
Also, in some part of the movie she's wearing a red bow tie, so I put it there too. I think I'd look tres cute.

Mary Poppin's make-up is quite au naturel. But the rosy cheeks are of highly importance! And rosy lips too. They're always cute and elegant.
Besides, just a little dab of color in your lips will help keep you from looking under-dressed.

Finally, two very important things.
Mary's Umbrella, and her "magical" satchel/bag. A girl has to always be prepared.
Pick a bag spacey enough to carry all your trinkets.
I'm famous for always carrying wide bags and lot's of stuff. I always have a pen when needed, my stain remover Tide marker, make-up, a little mirror, and my sketchbook and pencil. You never know when inspiration will strike.

Something extra I want to add about Mary Poppins is that she never, ever gives explanations.
While sometimes we have to, I think this is something very admirable.
Yesterday while reading Miss Couturable, I thought all of this. Miss Couturable has been getting a few comments about her blog and the way she writes about certain stuff.
If there's something I love about Miss Couturable is that she's not afraid to show who she truly is. She is who she is (you can find my comment there). And that's something we all love from Mary Poppins. She was who she was. My mom always tells me that not giving explanations in vain is something she learned from watching Mary Poppins when she was young.
I told Miss Couturable so, and so did other fellow readers.
Don't give explanations you don't have to give. Don't make excuses for yourself. We tend to this a lot, and most of the times we're repeating unnecessary explanations, explanations we didn't have to do in the first time. We are who we are, and we do what we do because we have our own reasons. What third parties have to say about it, we don't care.

Mary Poppins certainly is a figure that represents a lot of things and values from the past. But they are those values that are still right here. Unfortunately, they are getting lost now. The word ladylike is not what is used to be. We don't find most of these things in girls nowadays. And these are things every girl should have, learn, and develop, adapted of course to our contemporary lives.
Call me old-fashioned, but I think the world ladylike is something universal, that should remain forever.
And Mary Poppins is proof of that.

There's only one thing left to say:
Supercallifragilisticexpialidocious!

Infinite x's & o's...
M.B. Whimsical.

P.S. Haven't you always loved Bert?