New-York daily tribune., 1845-02-06

( ,,or, ,;i.t, The hat is beyond all doubt, one
! of the s,,anrest yesTimental anomahes OF the
nineteenth century. r
The history Of the hat is this The simplest
covering for mans head alter his own unshorh
locks-fdo not remind US OF the matted ana hn'ng
locks OF the Indians or Hoitentots)-nust have
been something like the Greek skull-cap Inns
we hold TO have been the root, or nucleus, Of Inc
hat: and vet even this cap had fault in point OF
utility, for it failed 10 shadow the eyes; and on
the earliest Greek monuments we lind cap with
wide brim appended, or a iiattish straw-fiat
! following close upon the Phrygian bonnet. a
| light fiattish hat has its recommendation in Il
warm country, but it will not do for the winds and
storms of a northern clime and hence all the
old Gauls, the northern nations, the Tartars, and
the peasants Of Europe, for many long century
wore modified cap-sometmes swelling out
into ornamental proportions, at others shrinking
into the primitive simplicity OF the Phryglan or
Greek cap. Shall we confess it, fastidious read
er?-we strongly suspect the cap worn by that
idle fellow Paris, when he so impudently ogled
! the goddesses on Mount Ida, 10 have been very
similar TO that good old bonnet de nut OF our
grandfathers-(slall we whisper II TO ourselves y
! es, that little cocked.up corner at the top LOOKS
like budding tassel; he never had such bad
taste as to tic it with riband round his brows :
and we do not read in Homer that Helen. though
capital work woman, ever gave him Que put
| we are inclined TO believe that the old punty-
dunty, pudding bag shaped cap which ls sn
worn by the French peasantry in their held occu-
pations, and is still patronized by large portion
Queen Victoria's loving Subjects. is OF the nigh
est antiquity. and based, we have no DOUBT on
utility. We must be candid enough to say,
that we give no the argument as to the intrinsic
beauty of this s;,ccies of cap-truly we thlhR II
the very type of all that is slovenly; but tor use,
there is not more comfortable, portable, pa-
! blc buyabe, and washable commodity, than
your-nightcap we TO say no-than your
| bonnet Gree.
Hats. properly so called, whether of cloth or
| isr, were evidently the invention OF some out
oi.door people; but then they were not the brim-
less pyramida canisters o The present fashion,
but wero either caps with dependent brims, or
else broad and flexible Spanish somCrer0s. The
very idea of a hat is that OF utllity-some-
thing to keep off the sun and the rain-anything
will do for warmth that will aid the hair in keep
ing in the natural caoric of 4 mans head and
hence we much doubt whether the Irish, that
hot.headcd nation, ever wore hats in early times.
From the want Of shade being early felt by cl-
vilized nations, more than shelter hom rain, and
monuments, we are inclined TO think that the
hat was more extensively worn in Southern than
in Northern Europe more, rs it is, in Southern
England than in Northern Scotland. Hence,
although we find many iron skul-caps, like hats,
used by the military in the fifteenth century
and although we find traces of hats even IN the
plcbeian costumes of the middle agcs-yet we
look upon the Spanish and Italian hat Of the six
teenth century, as the more immediate origin OF
its degenerate successor the actual chdpcdu.
We need not trace the variation OF It's form
through the seventeenth century, from the high
crowned things of Henry III. of France, and
james I. of England, to the graceful beavers OF
Lonis KILL, Philip III. and Charles |. OF En-
gland the change was all in favor OF the bea.
yer; and certainly the hat reached It's cumna-
ing point of excellence during the reign OF our
martyr king. Who has studied the splendid
portraits of Vandyke, or the heads OF Reubens,
and has not perceived the uncommon grace CIV
ell 10 them by the well-proportioned and not eX-
cessive hat? Who does not remember the fine
portrait, Of Reubens himself, with his black Span
ish hat turned up in front. the very perfection of
that style of hoad-dress! Put modern hat by
the side of this hat of Reubens, and say which
| bears off the palm there can hardly be two
opinions upon the subject The great change Of
this hat took place, us is well known, in Louis
! XIV's court where first of all feathers were laid
all round on the fiat of the brim, and next the
brim was edged with lace, and pinchcd or cock
ed up, for greater use in military service. 1t
might have been useful for military man, espe-
cially one who had to handle u bayoneted mus
| ket; but it fatal invasion OF the principle
OF beauty 10 adopt permanent cock. There Is
no doubt that the flat cooked hat, the small three
cornered pinched hat of the days of Louis NV.
and Louis XV., gave much smartness TO the SOL
dier, and. much neatness 10 the civilian: the
change too, corresponded with other alterations
of dress, from the loose and flowing, 10 the tight
and succinct principle; but picturesque effect
was entirely lost; all the seniimentaiity, all the
romance of the hat, evaporated III the formal
cock. But this small flat hat of the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries, was perfection ana
beauty itself. compared with the outrageous and
elevated cooked hat which came. into fashion
some time before 1880, and which is the Inme-
date prototype OF the present military cooked
nat Here the principle OF utility was entirely
abandoned; it was sacrificed TO the display oil
an unnatural brim. The hat was no longer form
ed by the pinching up of circular brlm o! mo-
deratc dimensions; but three enormous flaps
were made to rear their unwieldy height III the
air, and were strengthened, sttiened, and sup
fot the wearer, and to the Disagreement OF his
person. All through the first half OF the taste
less reign of good old George ILL.,, did this hor-
ribe covering disguise the bcaus head; aud the
effect of il may still be Judged of by his grand
children, when they contemplate, not without
awe, the rubicund figure of some metropolitan
church beadle, with his large capped coat, silver
headed cane, and monsirous three conered hat.
Oar modern great ladies', strange 10 say, seem 10
have an especial affection for this aht, since
they take particular 10 have couple of
fooimcn behind their carriage glorying in this
capital atrocity, while on the coachbox they en-
courage the older form of the fat cooked hat Of
Louis XIV. 1t was that wicked revolution OF
France, or rather that dissolu,e time pre-
ceding it, which produced the most mischief
in the ha, line. Look a, any OF the pictures
Of that day-!ook at the portraits of the
Conyeutionalists-loo at the old prints of The
country gentlemen hunting or riding races al