Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-28
SILK HATOUT OF FAVOR
DECREASED USE IN HOTELS AND
RESTAURANTS.
The War With Spain and the Advent
of the SLOUGH Hattie
Opera Hat.

From the New York Tinrs
The man crowned with a silk hat Is not
as much In evidence as he used to be.
Careful observation shows that the halo
of responsibility, or the insignia of sportive-
ness. seems TO be slightly out OF favor In
the new century. That the silk hat is TO
be relegated with the coonskin cap of our
squirrel shooting grandfathers to the glass
cases guarding treasures of the past &C
cordng to the matters, is not to be presumed.
Inc coonskin cap served good purpose IN
its day. when there were no fashionable
hat stores in the forests. They were a con-
venient headcovering' when men had to
sleep the ground
| In the process OF evolution there came
the beaver" with it's silky curls the
"Grandfathers Hat that was prominent in
the campaigns won and lost between Ben
Jamin Harrison and Grover Cleveland.
Presidents of the United States
1t is true that John w. Gates and other
men of more or less prominence are seen
at times in the evening wearing silk hats
but the rule is that the man in a dress
suit wears opera hat. The silk hat
worn by the man in a Tuxedo" according
TO the apparent dictates of fortune at pres
ent. Is about permissible as wearing tan
SHOES with the same garments. With the
| long tails of the dress suit the silk hat ac-
cording to the present fashion. is about as
much out Of order as if the wearer should
appear in his pajamas at the opera.
Indications of Heredity.
At banquet recently held in one OF the
great restaurants "a man OF the world or
| fashion appeared with a shining silk hat.
| Those who knew him wondered As he took
| his check for his coat and hat he apollo
| gized, saying that he had gone to sleep in
| his opera hat the night before and that the
| mechanism had been put out of order He
| explained that he had been restless and
| that in the morning he had found his hat
| crushed under the weight of his torso
| much to the discomfort of his floating ribs
AS he woke up late, he said, II was i'm
| possible for him to take the time to buy A
| new opera hat.
| The unfortunate man was a descendant
| Of Daniel Boone, who was accustomed to
| sleep in his coonskin cap, hoping that the
| red men seeking his scalp might in remov-
/ ing the cap give him the alarm that would
| mean their swift journey to the happy
I hunting ground
Similar indications of heredity are shown
| by those whose immediate ancestors wore
| the SLOUGH hat or the sombrero of the west
| and southwest. and who came to New York
| to live in luxury. They were among the
| first this season to discard the silk hat and
| to wear a modified SLOUGH, usually a Fedo-
! ra. They did not begin this with western
assurance that their ways were without
! doubt superior to other ways. for when
/ they first came here they wore silk hats
| just as they found the men here wearing
them. They were in New York to make
were going to observe the sensible rule to
| do lin Rome as the Romans do
Then came the war with Spain. where
the soldier, regular volunteer became
| the public idol. and the military hat was
| an insignia of merit. This campaign hat,
| costing about 20 cents, would not do not
| that it was less valuable than the SLOUGH,
but because there are few who feel COM
Portable in borrowed plumage. The next
| thing to it was the SLOUGH hat in winter
! and the Panama in summer. The silk hat
staid i'll the hat box.
Fads of Fashion.
| In addition to these and other causes
| leading to the present discredit Of the silk
| hat was the Introduction of fad at the
horse show of three years ago. This was
| in line with the fashion made almost uni
versal by E. Berry Wall in the days when
| he was known as the king of the dudes"
| Then no gentleman could be supposed to be
| properly dressed who did not leave the
| lower button of his waistcoat unbuttoned
| To corpulent persons this was a provideu-
tai FASHION. To the hungry 1t was sug-
gestive of an emptiness that might better
| be relieved by a tight belt. AT this time
| the fashion was to that ones valet
should not polish a hat. but rather should
rub it here and there against the grain
| This led to the assurance of those whose
| hats were old that they were in the best of
q
In the regular order of the evolutions of
the fashionable world il became stylish to
leave the upper button of ones coat I'M
| buttoned an apparent result of the Spanish
war, where the exposed throats of the sa i[or
| lads who did and dared off Santiago were
! admired as characteristic of their herosm
With this way of wearing ones coat there
| was also the summer rage, particularly pom
| ular with men who feared that their hair
was falling out, of going without any head
gear at AL no matter how hot the sun.
With the coming of the fan and the ap-
proacn OF a winter showing no arctic at
| tributes the heavy high hat was left in it's
box and the derby again came into vogue
Popular on the Bowery.
The manufacturers and sellers Of the once
popular silk hat are far-sighted. They
were the first to see the danger that even
/ the felt or derby hats might become con-
ventional with those who wear frock coats
in the afternoon. They threw on the mar
ket style of silk hat most noticeable
for its gloss. 1t was from one to two inches
lower in the crown than the silk hats of re-
cent seasons. This made ii apparent that
| the wearer had bought new tile"
The silk hat. however, has not been rele-
| gated to the headSear of the days when
! men wore laces, silk and satin: knicler-
| bockers, white stockings and silver buckles
on their shoes. Visits TO the corridors Of
fashionable hotels and the halls leading to
| the tables of much-frequented restaurants
| talks with the men who check the hats,
| show that the silk headgear has fallen off
| in popular favor on average of ~ per
| cent. Counting the hats worn when the
people stream out of the churches shows a
| decrease in popularity of the silk hat
! amounting TO little less than ~ per cent.
The high hat, however, has not lost its
| favor with the politicians, and has gained
an amazing popularity on the east side and
| the Bowery, where to be without one on
| the occasion of a wedding, funeral or TO go
| to church with is a seeming mark of eX-
IRENE poverty.