From the word go, I’ve failed the test. I arrive 20 minutes late for my meeting with the director of the Etiquette School of Malta.

“No problem at all. Please have a seat and I’ll get you a glass of water to refresh,” Kristina Noveska says, shaking my hand, and looking me in the eye with confidence.

Ms Noveska looks like a real-life Barbie doll: huge eyes, thick eyelashes, long, slightly curled, blonde hair with a side parting, super slim, immaculately dressed, perfectly made up.

She sits on the sofa in the welcome area of her Etiquette School in Naxxar, legs crossed to one side, back straight, and says how crucial the first seven seconds are when meeting someone new.

“That’s when we make up our mind about the person we’re talking to – it’s all in the appearance, words count for very little,” she tells me.

Right. So what’s the impression she got of me, I ask, suddenly feeling the urge to finger-comb my hair.

There is a pause, during which I blink a lot, and my mascara smudges and my untameable hair wisps rebel even more. The pause lasts a little longer, until finally Ms Noveska says: “You are very positive, you smiled a lot in those first seven seconds.”

Great. Then she adds, gently but firmly: “But your skirt goes up a bit when you sit down and I can see your knees; you are wearing a sleeveless blouse and shoulders should always be covered when on work duty. And you are not wearing tights.”

Tights? It’s 33˚C outside and if I wear tights, I won’t be able to peel them off my skin.

She gives an insisting nod: “A professional person always wears tights, it does not matter what the weather is like.”

Ms Noveska, 26, from Macedonia, is, in fact, wearing translucent tights and there is not a bead of sweat on her temples.

“And by the way, don’t ask women how old they are,” she chides. That’s etiquette: it’s basically the code of polite behaviour.

“Etiquette is not just about choosing the right knife and fork. Some view being polite as a weakness: not at all.

“Etiquette is how to treat people with respect, and how to learn to use the tools of social skills,” she says.

She was lured into the world of etiquette by Charm School, a reality-cum-finishing school television series. She graduated in English, then undertook several online courses as proven by the certificates covering her entire office wall.

A professional woman always wears tights, no matter what the weather’s like

“I always knew I would teach, but wanted to empower people and help them achieve success,” she says.

The school of etiquette opened in January. Ms Noveska has been living on the island for the past five years: “Malta is my home now.”

In Malta, she says women tended to shout a lot, “even at their husbands”.

And Maltese men had to be a bit more, well, gentlemanly. “They feel they are being weak if they are courteous.”

Maltese men dress better than women, she says.

“I don’t know how parents let their daughters go out half naked to Paceville. It shows that women don’t really respect themselves. We have to be careful how to dress as that says a lot about us.”

A common, unisex, etiquette issue is the use of mobile phones.

“People do not know the importance of face-to-face interaction,” she says.

Her students range from four years old to 50 and the adults are mostly male. “They come here because they want to feel more confident,” she says.

The courses – there are 18 of them – include dining, first impressions, the way to dress for different events, how to set a table, how to use cutlery, how to get out of a car and how to walk straight with the head up.

Depending on the number of hours and the modules taken, the cost varies from €100 to €350.

Modern etiquette is common sense, she says. It is different to chivalry, which “has been lost in time “Most men tell me their girlfriends do not like it when they try to be chivalrous.”

Can she cite some practical examples? For example, who should pay the bill when on a date?

“Whoever invites the guest has to take on the bill.”

Is it OK to go Dutch and split the cost? Her eyes pop in shock. “No! That’s such a big turn off.”

She says you should never make people feel uncomfortable.

If someone is rude to you, you should never be rude back, but should arrange to speak to that person in private.

“We should never show our anger – certainly, we should never explode.”

The problem is that these days parents do not seem to have the time to teach children good manners, she says.

As a mother of a two-year-old, she knows the importance of leading by example.

“Children are natural mimics. I have children here who don’t even say please and thank you; but then I have others whose parents send them here so they can become a princess.

“Our success is based on people skills: etiquette gives us confidence, strength of character and integrity,” she says.

Before leaving, I shake her hands. “Strong handshake,” she says approvingly.

Maybe I could pass the test after all. All I need is a pair of tights.