Create Your
Be Irresistible for Valentine's Day
Adapted from her book, "Simply Irresistible" Updated: Dec 7, 2008
8 secrets of famous sirens
By Ellen T. WhiteAdapted from her book, "Simply Irresistible" Updated: Dec 7, 2008
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Are you truly ready for Valentine's Day? You're not unless you're prepared to unleash your inner seductress and do it with confidence. Because you, my dear, are the woman he can't live without. He may not quite understand that yet. Take a few tips from the greatest "sirens" in history, many of whom are still casting their spell today.
Deep down, we all have the power to attract -- to strut, crow, spread our feathers, and bring men shuddering to their knees. Still, it doesn't hurt to borrow a few tips from experts like Jackie O, Marilyn Monroe, and Coco Chanel.
No serious prospects on the horizon? Never fear. There soon will be. Here are eight siren secrets to get you ready for Valentine's Day.
1. Add a Dash of MysterySo far you've been witty, warm, and wonderfully available. Now it's time to do a Jackie O and disappear. Not forever, mind you, but an occasional night or a weekend will do the trick. Better still if he can't reach you by phone or email.
Jackie drove Jack Kennedy wild with that mysterious agenda of hers.
Jackie drove Jack Kennedy wild with that mysterious agenda of hers. When your plans don't include him, you're oh-so-irresistible.
2. Woo Him with FoodJackie drove Jack Kennedy wild with that mysterious agenda of hers. "Cooking is not about applying heat, procedure, method, but about transformation of a more intimate kind," says the siren chef Nigella Lawson. Seduction starts when you cook him his favorite meal, and that might mean day-old pot roast, mashed potatoes, and chocolate milk. "Paint the canvas," says Nigella -- flowers on the table, a pot boiling on the stove, and you the seductress in the middle of it all. Dig in yourself, she advises. Show him you're a woman of voluptuous appetites.
3. "Pamelize" HimShe was U.S. ambassador to France during the Clinton years. But in her heyday she was the woman others wouldn't allow their husbands within a ten-foot radius of. When Pamela Digby (Churchill Hayward Harriman) wanted to charm a man, she focused in and hung breathless on his every word. Give it a whirl.
Ask him how he got so smart, so handsome, so strong. Then actively listen to his answer
Ask him how he got so smart, so handsome, so strong. Then actively listen to his answer instead of interrupting with your own. "Pamelizing," it's called, after the woman who made listening a deeply seductive art.
4. Channel a Little MarilynAsk him how he got so smart, so handsome, so strong. Then actively listen to his answer In "The Seven Year Itch," Marilyn Monroe's white skirt collided with an updraft from a subway grate, causing men all over the world to lose their minds. Anything that looks like it might come undone unexpectedly will work -- with the exception of pants so tight they're about to expose your posterior. The slippery shoulder strap and the descending neckline are a good place to start. There's nothing wrong with the tasteful display of a little skin.
5. Make Him LaughIf he thinks you're funny, he's probably already spellbound -- as the late actress Carole Lombard learned. She won Clark Gable with a fun-loving prank, after their on-screen love scenes didn't get a rise out of him.
Take a tip from Lombard: tell him a great joke that makes him laugh until he cries.
Take a tip from Lombard: tell him a great joke that makes him laugh until he cries. He'll think it's sexy when you do it with aplomb (i.e., without flubbing the punch line). Better still, make it off-color, steering clear of the raunchy lines. You'll see. He'll be delightfully surprised, possibly flustered, and kind of turned on.
6. Flirt with AdventureTake a tip from Lombard: tell him a great joke that makes him laugh until he cries. Women pride themselves on taming their men. Still, he hears the call of the wild and finds it hard to resist a woman who seizes the day. You can trace Camilla Parker-Bowles's earliest seduction of Prince Charles to her sense of adventure -- on the hunting field, in love, and (it's said) in the boudoir. Forget the makeup -- take him hang-gliding, say, or camping in the deep dark woods.
7. Use His NameIt's a small gesture but immensely flattering -- punctuate your conversation with his name. "You look so wonderful, Lionel, in your tuxedo I thought George Clooney had come through the door." Siren newswomen such as Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters use the technique to make their interview subjects cave. And they do, time and time again. It's a verbal caress -- like touching but not quite as overt. Careful not to overdo, lest he suspect you are trying to close a sale.
8. Find Your Signature Scent"It's an unseen, unforgettable, ultimate fashion accessory. It heralds your arrival and prolongs your departure," said the matchless fashionista Coco Chanel. Coco invented Chanel No. 5 to evoke "eternal woman," and sales went through the roof when Marilyn Monroe confessed it was all she ever wore to bed. Choose a scent that spins your irresistible legend faithfully. It's an intimate part of who you are. To him, you're as irresistible as you smell. Tonight he'll be moved by your fragrance on his pillow. Your scent will bring you to mind even long after you've ridden off into the sunset with another man.
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