I had the honor of portraying a "Southern Belle" in a Pageant in Washinton D.C. for a while. I had to learn how to act "the proper Southern lady" at all times. Navigating numerous obstacles in a hooped skirt wasn't easy, but when I got the "hang" of it, it was a great experience. We carried a reticule which was looped around our wrists and almost impossible to remove, much less drop, and always a fan, which was continuously being jostled out of our hands. We learned to stoop with our knees together and pointed slightly to the right, keeping our backs straight. Surprisingly, this was easy to do and worked fine when we wore "walking dresses" which were very slim cut. Regards, MISS SCARLETT