The Cool Blonde

And what makes her that certain way

Daily Express
13 May 1958

by Patricia Lewis

THEY may be labelled "Ice-Maiden" ..."Miss Frigidaire" ... "Duchess" ... "Iceberg" ... "Miss Big Freeze" ... but nothing could be more misleading. Underneath that snooty exterior these long-legged girls with their pale, thin complexions, light eyes, and ash-blonde hair are full of nervous drive that leads them to the top of their professions on the one hand and into recklessly-passionate love affairs on the other.

The Cool Blonde is probably the most beautiful of all women. Her bone-structure — wide brow, high cheekbones, straight, thin nose, and strong jaw — is a joy to painters, photographers, and sculptors.

With her tall, perfectly-proportioned body, her spun-glass ankles, and slender hands and feet she makes the ideal fashion model, a highly successful actress — or even a princess.

Her apparent frostiness is often due to genuine shyness or natural introversion. She is a lone wolf — happy in her own company or that of one chosen friend. The small talk of cocktail parties bores her and she's a poor guest — becoming withdrawn and impassive unless she can find someone with a line of conversation to match her own.

[Snipped: discussion of Ingrid Bergman, model Helen Connor]

HAVING glimpsed Sabrina's wardrobe I'd say this may well be a Cool Blonde fetish.
Caught between a drama lesson and a dancing class, Miss Sykes appeared in tight knitted pants of royal blue with a thick (but not that thick!) sweater. She looked distinctly apres-ski.

"Have you seen my new coat? " asked Sabrina, and went into the bedroom to return weighed down by plastic bags spilling several shades of mink. She modelled her new coat — a gorgeous sapphire mutation.
"It's my favourite colour." she said. "Though I still find occasions to wear my three other stoles — and the white fox is useful for premieres."
What, I wondered, does Sabrina favour when she isn't wearing mink?
"Oh, black. And red. And lots of blue, my lucky colour."
I remarked that there was no blue to be seen in her flat.
"Well, I'm leaving here anyhow," she said- "My new place is on a top floor overlooking Hyde Park and I'm having blue-rose wallpaper in the bedroom with mirrors and blue drapes... and striped purple velvet in the living-room with gold antique furniture and heavy moulding on the walls and white carpets everywhere."

Very French

SHE looked unhappily at the current floor.

"I hate this old red carpet now — and I've found you can't live with all those gold leaves on the wallpaper. I guess I just go off things quickly. Do you like the sound of the new flat? It'll be very French-looking... but I think something a bit ostentatious is right for my personality, don't you?"

A character-reader having once told me... "flaxen hair belongs to a demonstrative nature, perhaps with a love of ostentation." I was forced to agree.
Sabrina may not be the most beautiful of Cool Blondes — but for my money she's certainly the best value.