Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-07-10
WHEN MERE MAN BUYS
A STRAW HAT in A HURRY

They want to look old and the ancients
want the jauntiest hats on the market"
-
While he was telling 1t a gray-mous-
tached man happened in. ndgeted about
like man always does In a shop and
finally sidled up to q salesman and asked
to see hats He repudiated those Sc
date affairs. tried on a sailor and jerked
1t of as though conscious that even his
vanity could not countenance quite such
juvenile chapeau. Eventually he COM
promised on a soft straw fedora. which
he turned down in front and made HIM
SELF look the grandfather of all the sport
Meanwhile q nondescript. lean. lanky in
dividual. who fairly reeked of ready
to give it caste. was asking for hat
with very wide Tapping brinn. This IN
terested the observer. for men are popu-
larry supposed. thanks to their own reit-
GRAFTON of the statement, to loathe any
sort Of Sky piece" that projects be-
lond the nose. Out came several pale
yellow anaemic hats. with fiat tops.
rather large crowns and the himsiest OF
brin,s. The young clubman put one on
and Immediately It dropped down until his
Of the most ultra chorus girl at supper.
1t was evident that he did not like 1t.
but from that vague place where men
fashions originate had come the dictate
that large hats. or very small ones, were
the thing. SO he bought 1t, and went out
like a ship with a limp sail. The sum-
rers that women defy comfort and be-
comingness by wearing especially wide
ed to conform sufficiently to avoid the
| incongruity that would follow when two
of opposite sexes are walking together
Ask any halter and he will indorse
this.
Frequently men tried on hats. made
wry faces. insisted on having the same
shape they had last year and when told
that the different" one was the newest
| and that they would get used to it.
! meekly accepted the sellers word. and
again the watcher looked for the man who
knew his own mind and bought a hat be-
tween breaths. as it were. He must
| surely have been out Of town or detained
at the Office.
rs II because OF hard times that sc
many men are buying this late in the
| season." the observer asked. and was
| told that only one going abroad. or one
wishing to crowd all in on his June bill
that he possibly can. ever buys enough
! hats at one time In the spring to last
all summer. 1t seems they don't get new
ones for any Of the reasons that actuate
a woman. II man purchases a small
sailor In May and by August other men
are peering from under straw sombreros
he Is just as likely to invest in another
of the same size, as to fall in line with
| large one. No, he buys because his
hat gets yellow.
incidentally. there Is really less change
| In the sailor shapes from last year than
| one usually finds in the lapse Of a year
They nave the same rough weave. the
same two and a half or three inch brim
the same medium height crown, and OF
course, the band ie as usual bowed on
the wrong side-from woman's point OF
view.
These dippy-dappy affairs which flare
straight heavenwards one instant and
give the wearer a playful slap on the
nose the next. come nearest to duplicat-
ing the wondrous detected and demure
| garden hats. encircled with roses, which
none but an Englishwoman of quality or
| a girl on the threshold Of her teens ever
! succeeds in making attractive. They 60
| best With fannels and a big physique and
| suggestion Of general don't-careness.
Men don't like them. but they are buy
Ing and wearing them-because the hat
| ter tells them it Is the correct thing to
do.
And parting shot. man divides his
summer into three sections--that when
wears the new hat and that when he In
vests in second new hat, because II
enables him to obtain the best bar
gains! Late in the season he gets hve-
dollar hats for about two. And they are
precisely the same grade of hat as he
paid the larger sum for in May. He
knows 1t and purchases on the theory
that he will wear 1t awhile and put 1t
away for next spring.
Yet who Is 1t who growls when mere
| woman does the same thing on her re-
| turn from the summer trip and insists:
There must be something wrong with
] the hat when 1t IL that cheap"