Timeless advice for the single gal
As someone who has lived alone for most of my adult life, I haven’t always liked it. But growing older and wiser makes me glad for all the many blessings: a bathroom to myself! No one to wake me up by snoring. I can eat whatever I want, whenever I want!
One of my favorite blogs is Apples and Roses, the blog of Dorothy Cummings McLean, who once wrote Seraphic Single, blog full of advice for single women. She recommended “Live Alone and Like It” as “the most enjoyable book I ever read on the Single Life.” As I adore McLean’s writing, I immediately ordered the book.
Vogue editor Marjorie Hillis published this slim volume (only 154 pages) in 1936, back in a time when a woman past the age of 25 was considered “on the shelf.” Her book became the eighth most popular non-fiction book of the year and one of the best sellers of the decade. Obviously, attitudes were starting to shift.
This charming book reads as if your chic, worldly-wise older aunt or cousin came over for cocktails or tea and decided to share her wisdom. The language is delightfully dated: Hillis speaks of a woman’s “beau” coming to pick her up, and that scrambled eggs and sausages are favored at the “smartest debutante parties.” The twelve chapters cover everything from how to furnish your home or apartment, the necessity of keeping up with the latest styles – not spending money you don’t have, but never being dowdy – as well as the morals of a single lady. (“A Woman’s Honor is no longer mentioned with bated breath and protected by her father, her brother, and the community. It is now her own affair.”)
Never, never, never let yourself feel that anybody ought to do anything for you. Once you become a duty you also become a nuisance.
Chapter Two, “Who Do You Think You Are?”
Her breezy chapters chock-full of good tips close with case studies of single, divorced, or widowed ladies who demonstrate their good sense – or who serve as a warning to others. My favorite was case study XXV: the lady who knew how to spend a weekend alone: spending Saturday at the beauty salon while her housekeeper cleaned, taking a good tub soak at home before enjoying dinner served on a tray by said housekeeper, then relaxing with breakfast in bed the next day. Sounds wonderful!
This is your house, and it’s probably the one place in the world where you can have things exactly as you please.
Chapter Six, Setting for a Solo Act
The many mentions of bed jackets and satin pajamas make me think of Eva Gabor in “Green Acres” – but they also make me want to upgrade my wardrobe immediately. Every single woman deserves that luxury!
Notes from Aunt Gem 