The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-01-24
GOOD By TO THE SILK HAT
DAME FASHION DEGREES TT
MUST PASS AWAY.
Higher Work and Finer Materials
Have Placed Its Cost Out of Range
of Average Man.

baltimore Amerfc8nD
humors from the realms Of Dame
Fashion have it that the silk hat is ia.
/ be relegated TO the obscurfrv from,
which il emerged 50 many centuries
/ ago, ana none who fear the stern de-
crees of this mistress of the modes Mill
appear in one after she declares il o11r
/ OF cate. And if SO, what a host of mem
Z ores agreeable and ludicr0us will ac
/ company its departure. for probably no
/ sJyle OF headgear ever invented has
Deen productive of the same amount -
/ disunSuiShed looks and abiect misery
since Irock coats and the iuevitabIs
Tile came to be necessary accessories
OF every mans toilet who desired ro b..
correctly Sroomed, the wearers have
struggled with and sworn at il. and
Yet refused to abandon it for an easier
shape, because, despite the fact that
men have no vanity. it lends an air ,,f
elegance that no felt or stiff Oh. cT7Isf7
hat could possibly bestOw. How the
youth tiushes with Chagrin as some one
| recalls the occasion when he first 0rng-
mented his Uranium with one of tho
/ silken StOYepipCS and herOicaIiy faced
: nigh wind that played tunes beneath
/ the brlm and threatened at every fresh
pun TO play football with his crowniup
glory.
Il was glossy and smooth as a ravens
wing and gave him a feeling Of being
grown up; but the joy of assuming il
was alleged by the irresistible temDta-
/ JlOn 10 elevate his chin like a tropical
water carrier. and he never could quite
rid himself Of the sensation that its
/ topping qualities were liable to come
l TO the surface at short notice. What
memories of haIcyOn times at the
opera, on the boulevard. TIE dav when
ne served as an usher at her wedding.
OF solemn occasion when the lUster was
partly hidden beneath a creme band
and Of brilliant social functions it will
recall to the middle-aEed clubmau who
mas seen the shapes change from bell
crown to high and narrow STYLES. and
surrounded by rolling brim And If
the little bird that acts as herald for
. the changes her ladyship Fashion pro
poses TO make during the year. NAV be-
relied upon, with what regret. mingled
with a sneaking sense of satisfaction.
/ VIII the news be received by those
whom it affects. Yet il seems almost
/ heartless to abandon it after the long
years during which it has shielded man
from sun and rain. though very little
! protection under the latter conditions.
The Tiles Family Tree.
a long line of ilIUstrioUs ancestors. who
| figured in the poems and descriptions
OF the ages when England was swayel
/ by those VINO admired the gaudv i'm
dress Chaucer describes his merchant
Of the Canterbury Tales as wearing
{ a fiaUnderish beaver hat" and in the
next century one reads among a list OF
. articles Of the wardrobe Of "a hattie of
{ beaver, lyned with damaske" While
Stubs. who held up TO ridicule the
customs prevailing i'm Elizabeth's
reign, states that some of the hats
worn were sharp on the crown. per5-
Ing up like the shaft Of a steepIe.
standing a quarter of a yard above
/ their heads some more, some less. TO
please the fdncies Of their Wayering
minds. Some are of velvet. some of
silk, some are of taffeta, some Of sar-
/ Genet, some of wool. ana. which is more
/ curious. some Of a certain kind Of fine
halr; these they call beaver hats. and
are fetched from across the sea whence
a great sort Of other varieties do come"
An old song of this era also tends to
show the great hold the beaver had
taken on the public, saying:
The Spaniard's constant to his block.
The Frenchman's ncCnstant ever,
But Of all felts that may be felt.
Give me the English beaver"
During the reign of Charles I the
"sugar-loaf' hat came into popularity
and was Ornamented with gay ribbons
and feathers but this was, as one of
the wearers complains. go inCOmmOdi-
Gus that every Duffe of wind deprived
US of them" which must have rather
/ decreased the favor hitherto enjoyed
I by the tall hat, for no further mention
IS made Of it until after the Restoration
had become history and Queen Anne
had ruled and died.
A Victorian Product.
Then. in the first quarter Of the last
/ century, it again figured in the fashion
notes and became the favOrite mode Of
] quality. and as a writer WittiIy express
eg it. the polite distinction Of fash
: iOnable undress." 1t was later adopted
/ in Paris. where the French called il
the chapeaU IangIais, and held I'M
/ disturbed sway in the land Of the fieur
de lis until the Revolution, when the
/ cooked hat was generally worn.
Yet the tile, like genius, could not be
/ kept down, and the empire saw it flour
/ iShing as SeTenely as before, and has
/ been sJaUnCh faVOTite with the tickle
! Partisan ever since. About the time Of
Queen NictOria's coronation the supply
/ Of beaver showed an alarming de-
/ crease, and perhaps for this reason. or
/ else because or love or change. the
/ English now wore hats of silk. though
/ Of Identical shape as its predecessor
/ that had the additional advantage OF
] being cheaper. The first shape natur-
! ally underwent many variations during
! the years that followed its advent. but
/ the principal characteristics are so sim
/ liar that makers say only slight
/ changes have been necessary I'm the
/ wooden block. which exactly conforms
with the body of the hat and i'm five
/ pieces. in order to be easily taken apart
/ for the removal Of the hat after it has
+ been shaped. But higher work and the
/ use of finer materials have increased
/ the cost of the tile somewhat. 50 that
! men Of the upper classes. as represent
/ ed by the rich. are more prone TO affect
them than the general run of human
/ ity.