Quote:
Originally Posted by luzianne
I went to a Titanic exhibit yesterday and there was something there that described the captain of the Titanic, Edward John Smith, as "quietly flamboyant." I wondered exactly what that meant.
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I can think of an example of "quietly flamboyant," I think.
Back in the 1950s in my smalltown high school there was a very tall, blond, rather nice-looking girl, Beatrice, whose principal claim to fame was that she was immensely more intelligent that most of us. Her manner was quite reserved.
Came the night of the her class's senior ball and all of the girls came in the usual formal gowns appropriate for that era and place: white or pink, many layers of tulle and net with a full, floor-length skirt. No much different than what they would have worn as a bridesmaid.
When Beatrice arrived with her date - a bit on the late side, after almost everyone else was already there - she walked into the room, her date brought her to the center of the dance floor through a parting crowd without a look to left or right, and they began to dance.
She was a bomshell! Her long blonde hair had been done in a very adult upsweep style, she was wearing glittering dangling earrings and her gown was a strapless sheath with several large pleats that formed a small train and it was made of dark emerald green satin.
Though she had clearly pulled off a very daring movie star turn, nothing in her manner or behavior suggested that she was doing anything out of the ordinary...when, in fact, she set the place on its ear. The saying "butter wouldn't melt in her mouth" was totally appropriate to how she carried it off.
