The Washington herald., 1908-08-23
WHAT a MAN THINKS
OF a WOMAN'S HAT

The new style Of wOmen's hats affords
ample room 1or comment. Some Of them
cover about nine square feet oE space; ors
TO be exact, We have seen one authentic
model that has a superfcies OF thirty-two
inches BY thirty-six inches. As 10 height
they>vary between seventeen and twenty
inches In the East to have an umbrella
carried over ones head Is a sign Of noble
blood and distinction; and the more noble
the blood OF the person thus sheltered the
bigger the spread Of the UMBRELLA But
these new hats, IN addition 10 crowding
their spread OF distinction 10 the verge
OF full concealment. attain a depth Of
something ike foot and a half. and this
is a measure Of social eminence for which
the East has no parallel, says a writer to
the Hartford Courant
OF course. IN this free land any woman
who has the price and the nerve can buy
= hat Of this kind and wear IL It's use
means nothing at all socially. We have
not yet dropped the habit OF judging
women by their manner Of speech rather
than by their hats We have to maintain
this habit. for otherwise the prevalence
Of these big hats would produce cOBfU-
sion. In continental Europe It is not so.
The poor giri who came out over there
with one Of these hats Of the high mode
would be laughed out Of the streets-that
IS TO say. If she were a respectable girl
But here. and properly enough, Il IS who'll
" a matter OF having the money to spare
and nerve.
Most women are pictures placed II this
world. TO make up for commonplace man
/ Each woman-tEat is TO say, almost each
one-has some certain way OF wearing the
hair. and some certain style Of dress
which make a distinct picture Of her
There are a few women who are fortunate
enough, by variations in costume. 10 be
equally a picture in each As the rule
however. every woman IS good for one
perfect picture and no more Where he
artistic sense prevails this one most
pleasing style Is worked out early and re-
tained. subject. Of course. TO such changes
as increasing years or suffering may re-
quire. But the miIliners and the dress
makers do not Ike this persistence OF in
dividuaIity in woman's dress They Ike
the spring style and the winter style. ard
naturally they ike 10 make any depart
ure from these changing styles appear
I strange and queer. So poor woman has
been brought into subject!on 10 styles
that are made for her and that c0ITle and
go with the seasons. We are not com
planning; all this adds 70 the variety Il not
the spice Of life, but the individual pic
ture which each woman might make OF
herself. Il she would. is thereby lost, and
with It a great deal OF beauty.
Most men know now about the rolled
hair style The thin and pallid face ap-
pears with IL and also the round and
ruddy face The peculiarities Of each are
\ accentuated and made more conspicuous
By the Uniform dressing Of the hair. The
woman with little hair wads IL out with
stuffinE Of some kind. and the woman
with abundant hair passes in the crowd
as also having had 70 stun her rolls One
can see by a glance at the chorus girls
on the stage how one uniform style IS
bound 10 injure the looks OF some women
that is 20 say. one may see il # he is
not sitting behind a dowager-like person
with a large head winged out with the re-
quired rolls. The short and dUmpy chorus
girl looks under her rolls ike a squat IDOL
Of India and the tall girl looks as Il sne
had put on a black OF brown or yellow
doUghnut as an ornament. The natural
lines Of each are emphasized in The wrong
direction.
These big hats are probably al evolu-
ton from the hair-rolI idea They are
called Merry Widow hats; but that does
not seem 20 make them more attractive.
the lustiEe WiTwe nos being ordinarily
reckoued II her own habitat as a sun
Gay-school person The hat however and
rot the name IS the thing, and 10 mere
man II seems TOO big thing In spite OF
rhat-0r because of rEat-we have no
doubt that all kinds OF women will flock
under IL The short ones will look short
81. the tail ones taller, and the thick ones
thicker. Presumably among the thou
sands OF the gracious sisterhood there will
be some hundreds 10 whom Il VIII give
new beauty. but these viii 20 IN FOR small
hats as soon as that extreme becomes the
vogue
Is there any use n talking about all
this2 Not one BIT One OF the fire things
about woman IS that she goes ahead on
her own lines. n this matter OF dress
Just as soon as she can ind out what the
current fashion has prescribed for her
She IS even willing 10 sacrifice her own
individual style IN order 20 IOok-ss far
as nature alI0ws-Iize the-others-