Beautiful

    I'm rereading Dick Francis again. His ingenues tend to be beautiful. We know, because he tells us so. But the description tends to run to, "She had black hair, brown eyes, neat features and a trim figure." I dunno, I sort of feel like a little more description might be useful, or at least a comparison. I tend to go in for "looks like Reese Witherspoon" for one young lady whom I admire. Admittedly, fame fades and time passes, but "looks like Audrey Hepburn" or "looks like Natalie Wood" probably still work, all these years later.
    On the other hand, you can go too far in that direction. One of those E people, Elmore Leonard or Ed McBain, has his characters arguing over which famous person a given character looks like. (It was Leonard, in "Maximum Bob.") Funny, funny stuff, and even helpful in giving the reader more to visualize. But a little weird.