Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1909-05-19

Such that we make on tnlS sue " eno
water are as fine as any that can De
made anywhere on earth, are III
fact hats of quality, with wonderful
capacity for wear, yet many men To-
day find them-not so much the
derbies, perhaps, as American der0les
are thoroughly satisfactory mats Du'
the soft felts produced on this slde
TO be thoroughly lacking In that
little touch of individuality, OF person
ality. so to speak, that seems to make
each individual foreign hat the pro-
duct of an artist, not the work OF
machine.
We have come to look to the I'M
ported hats for new ideas and WIN
the increasing license that is permit
ted men these days in the matter OF
selection and in the display OF tnelr
individual taste there are found nall
marks of personlity to be found in
the hats from abroad that one
searches for in vain in the domestic
product. New shades, different
bindings, peculiar S itchings and the
like are features which our manufac-
turers do not seem to have the lnyen-
ton or the inspiration to produce. 1t
has been said that American hats lack
imagination or else they are such riot
of invention as to be impossible of &C
ceptance by the average man.
For instance, velours have never
been so popular as at the present
time, and they are being more often
seen in town than hitherto and yet
no one it is pointed OUT, has made them
successfully here. Yet not only for
outing wear but next fall they will
play large part in the seasons fash Z
ions in hats. But they have to be
gotten ION the other side.' The ltal-
ians, too, are especially successful in
the manufacture of handsome soft
hats, producing some in the most ex-
quisite shades of tan, gray and green
and there are some new French green
hats to be found in the shops today
that are so compelling that it is al
most impossible not to buy them, even
though green is on the wane and
seems to be only affected by gentle
men of Ethiopian extraction. 1t is curl
Gus how short-lived green hats have
been, as they still hold sway as be-
ing among the best sellers" in Lon
don town, which would seem to be one
reason why many of our younger set
at least would still elect to wear them.
But the fad for blacks and whites,
which obtains still among the most
particular men about town, has not
been without it's effect on the head
wear of the moment, and while no one
who cares anything about dress has
taken to wearing black hats, yet white
felts are having o unusually extens-
i've vogue just now and gray is the
real color of the moment. Hats OF
beautiful pearl gray, gray tans, taupe,
and mouse color, the familiar blue
grays of convention and even the
smoke colors that appear in the
scarfs of the moment are especially
popular in hats these days and most
of these hats are now worn with
fancy ribbons which are having a par
ticular vogue among the younger set.
In fact it is thought that there VILE
not be as many colored hat bands
seen on the straw hats this summer
as ON the soft felts. The smarter
shops are showing felt hats with
scarfs wrapped around them and these
hat scarfs will also be seen this sum
mer on the Panamas, which, as always
Will be worn to certain extent by the.
men who are able to afford very ex-
pensive brands. The cheaper Panamas
will probably not be very fashionable
this summer.
number of interesting straw hats
from England are already being
shown. One has a drawing string in
the leather which may thus be ad-
Justed to ensure perfect fit. Another
has brim which is something over
half inch thick at the sides. but
which tapers off to the thickness of
single piece of straw braid in the
back and front. The band of this hat
Is very wide and it has iaunty how
IN the back and is most swagger. A
third new hat has dark green bana
and the brim is edged with a single
line OF dark green encircles the crown
ABOUT half an inch below the ton
Fairchild's Magazine.