There are ways of climbing staircases gracefully in as many as there are ways to climb it looking unimpressively flat. Here are a few more tips on climbing up and down a flight of stairs.
1. Do climb in an upright manner just as if you are walking. The tendency of people is to lean forward to transfer the weight of the body up front, but, this is not good to look at and gives an impression that one does not know how to carry his weight. For one who is just learning to walk, this is excusable but for one who has walked and climbed staircases for years, this is unsightly.
2. For males DO climb the stairs straightforward, for females DO climb with a slight tilt (about 15 degrees) towards the hand-rail side. Why the difference? Fashion has a lot to answer for this, males wearing pants need not tilt sideways to see the next few steps to take, which is important for safety reasons. However, females who wear skirts, especially long gowns, in order to see the staircases they are climbing on, must tilt a bit to see their way. Another reason is that, when climbing down, females wearing skirts, especially short skirts, who climb down straightforward fashion will show a lot of their physique (legs and all) to those already waiting downstairs, sometimes this is short of immodesty.
3. DO climb the steps heads erect and not heads down. Looking at where you are going is good safety practice, but looking at your every step in the staircase gives an impression of undue caution and makes you walk heads down, a sign of lack of self-possesion and confidence. A good practice is to look in advance a few steps, say 4 or 5 steps ahead, this will allow your head to remain upright, but at the same time keep you on the side of safety.
One of the greatest gifts of being human is the ability to walk upright, remember, no animal is ever capable of doing this. This gift is part of man having been given dominion over all created things; to be upright means being able to see fully his surrounding and therefore have a command over it. Walking properly and with grace is just the logical consequence of knowing and living this wonderful gift.
Remember, an etiquette a day keeps rudeness away.
-Sir Madz
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