The Elegance Edit: Issue 14

Discover how your body speaks before you say a word.

Olga Kuznetcova
August 28, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes

Olga’s Note
Dear Ladies,

Welcome to Issue 15 of The Elegance Edit – your weekly guide to body language, elegance, and timeless style. Each edition offers thoughtful insights to help you feel more poised, confident, and graceful in every part of your life.

We’ve covered a whole host of topics in the last fourteen newsletters, from dating elegance to displaying your feminine energy appropriately at work. This week, we’re focusing on something we’ll be seeing a lot in the coming month – posing. To learn how to pose, and what red carpet body language can teach us – keep reading.

Picture please?
The Anatomy of a Perfect Pose

There's a moment at every major film premiere when the crowd still buzzes with energy, but something shifts. A figure emerges from the car, and suddenly everyone stops talking. Not because of the designer gown or the jewelry but from complete command of physical presence.

What creates this magnetic effect? It's not luck, and it's certainly not something reserved for celebrities. It's the result of understanding how every part of your body works together to communicate confidence, grace, and intention.

The Forgotten Art of Stillness

We live in a world of constant motion, which makes true stillness remarkably powerful. Watch award show footage carefully, and the most memorable red carpet moments often happen during the pauses.

That brief moment when someone stops walking and simply stands with complete presence. No fidgeting, no nervous adjustments, no checking their dress. Just confident stillness that allows everyone to truly see them. This level of composure requires practice. Most of us carry tension in places we don't even realize clenched jaw, raised shoulders, held breath. Learning to release this tension while maintaining elegant posture becomes a skill that serves you far beyond photographs.

Your Body Speaks First

Before you say hello, your posture has already told everyone in the room exactly how you feel about yourself. This conversation happens in milliseconds, but its impact lasts the entire evening.

Think about the last time you attended an important event. The women who seemed effortlessly poised perhaps weren't necessarily the most conventionally beautiful. They were the ones who understood something crucial, that your physical presence is a language you can learn to speak fluently.

Research confirms what elegant women have always known: people form lasting impressions within the first seven seconds of meeting you. Albert Mehrabian’s 7-38-55 theory is that 55% of communication happens through body language, 38% through vocal tone, and only 7% through actual words.

This means your stance, your hand placement, your facial expression; these elements are doing most of the talking before you even introduce yourself. The good news? Unlike changing your height or bone structure, you have complete control over these elements.

Your Red Carpet Toolkit

In last week's Elegance Game, we asked What is the foundational element for achieving an elegant, natural-looking pose in photographs? As we’ve already explored, non-verbal communication is the key for physical presence which transcends photographs and intro real life. The correct answer was (C) Engage your core, elongate your spine, and allow your body to feel grounded while keeping your movements fluid and intentional.

The Foundation Reset Before any photo opportunity, take fifteen seconds to reset your body. Roll your shoulders up toward your ears, then release them down and back. This simple movement releases accumulated tension and automatically improves your posture. Next, engage your core gently. Elongate your spine as if a gentle hand is lifting you from the crown of your head, allowing your body to feel grounded through your feet while keeping your movements fluid and intentional. Your chin should remain parallel to the ground, avoiding the common mistake of tilting down, which can create unflattering angles.

The Weight Transfer Here's a technique borrowed directly from professional portrait sessions: shift 70% of your weight onto your back leg. This creates an elegant foundation that allows your front leg to bend slightly, adding grace and preventing that rigid, military-stance appearance. Your hip will naturally create a gentle curve, and your entire silhouette becomes more interesting and flattering.

The Soft Frame For your arms, think of creating a gentle frame around your torso without touching your body. One hand might rest lightly on your hip, while the other hangs naturally at your side. The key is maintaining soft, slightly curved fingers, arms should never be tense or completely straight.

The Mirror Practice Method

The most effective way to internalize these techniques? Practice at home in front of a full-length mirror. Spend five minutes before your next important event running through these adjustments. Notice how each small change affects your overall appearance, and how it makes you feel.

The beauty of understanding red carpet body language lies not in recreating Hollywood glamour, but in applying these principles to your actual life. Whether you're giving a presentation or simply walking into your favorite restaurant, these same fundamentals apply.

The next time you prepare for any important moment, remember: your body is already equipped with everything you need to create lasting impressions. The only question is whether you'll use that power intentionally.

Only 4 Days Away: Your Elegance Transformation Begins

Ladies, what we explored today with posing is just a glimpse of what happens when you master body language, presence, and confidence intentionally.

Inside the Elegance Refinement Mentorship, starting September 1st, you won’t just learn how to look elegant—you’ll learn how to become elegant. In 8 weeks together, I’ll guide you live through 14 immersive sessions covering heels, etiquette, social presence, romantic body language, business confidence, and more.

This isn’t theory. It’s practice, feedback, and transformation in real time.
It’s how you move from overthinking your every gesture… to walking into any room feeling admired, respected, and unforgettable.

🌸 8 Weeks of Live Mentorship with me, Olga Kuznetcova
🌸 14 Classes Covering Elegance in Every Sphere of Life
🌸 PDF Resources, Guided Home Practices, and Replays for 10 Months
🌸 Private Elegant Community of Women Growing Alongside You

Or, if you have any questions, click here to book an Elegance Conversation with our Elegance Team.

Upcoming Events
ELEGANCE REFINEMENT MENTORSHIP

A private, online mentorship with Olga Kuznetcova. In just 8 weeks, you’ll stop guessing elegance and start embodying it, walking into any room as the most confident, feminine, and unforgettable version of yourself.

NYC ELEGANCE WEEKEND

SATURDAY, AUGUST 30
10:00AM - 12:00PM: SOCIAL ETIQUETTE
12:30PM - 2:30PM: DRESS CODES FOR SOCIAL EVENTS
3:30PM - 5:30PM: ROMANTIC BODY LANGUAGE

Olga’s Tips
Elegance Tip of the week

eleganceny
4M followers
View more on Instagram

Olga’s Recommendations
Perfecting the Posture

While my recommendations might usually be a product or something to watch or read, this week’s recommendation is simple – but requires dedication. Work on your posture. Much like elegance, this is a journey, not an overnight change. By making small changes to your behaviors, these will become your natural habit, and the same goes for your posture. Whether it’s through Pilates, dedicated posture exercises or swimming (like I’m doing as I train for the triathlon) this will slowly improve your posture which will translate to your body language over time.

Glow Up Weekend
L’Elegance NY on Tour

Yes, it’s official – L’Elegance NY is going on a USA tour. If you’ve ever thought about attending one of my in-person sessions – this is the time. I would be truly honored to meet you, guide you, and grow with you.

Glow Up Weekend: This programme is a commitment for a full weekend, but it will change your perception of your own capabilities. We’ll cover the practical aspects of many of the things we’ve covered in previous editions of The Elegance Edit, as well as some class exclusives like navigating stairs, handling accessories, sitting and standing. While these might seem like miniscule details, these will transform your demeanour and presence.

Tour Dates:

September 26 – 28 Boston, Massachusetts

October 3 – 5 Chicago. Illinois

October 24 – 25 Miami, Florida

October 31 – November 2 Houston, Texas

November 7 – 9 Los Angeles, California

December 19 – 21 San Francisco, California