Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-12-05
FASHIONS FOR MEN.
BY Frederic J. Haskin.

! Edward VII is dead and George V
reigns in his stead as the sovereign of
the British empire, but there is none to
take his place as the supreme arbiter of
fashions for men.
BY reason of this fact affable young
gentlemen who make their living by SELL
ing hats are imposing upon the helpless
male animal certain types and forms OF
hard. stiff hats that resemble in their
low, rakish lines the pirate craft Of the
Spanish main. The late King Edward
was only five feet seven inches tall, and
he insisted always upon wearing a high
crown hat 1t was he who. as Prince of
Wales and as king, determined things
proper for men to wear. He established
what appears to be the permanent vogue
of the hard-boiled. round-top stiff hat
known to Edward and to the British
world as bowler and to Americans as
a derby" He sometimes permitted the
hatters to change the shape of the crown
or the brim but he insisted always that
the crown should be six inches high and
the brim two and five-eighths inches wide.
AS long as he lived no one dared to in
terfere with the general proportions OF
this kingly derby.
Two years ago. however, when Edward
was no more. the hatters began to put
high and four and three-fourths inches
highland brims two and two and one
eighth inches wide At first these nat
wheeled derbies were met with scorn, for
the male animal changes his wearing ap-
parel with conservative slowneSs, but
this season a hat five inches high and
with a two-inch brim is in decided favor,
while the rah-rah boys are wearing them
four inches in the crown and two and
three-fourths in the brim. This Is what
RI have hn -
care for dress, to reign in London in
stead of Edward.
The fuzzy -wuzzy hat, the hat with whs-
kers the velvet hat. the hat known tech
nically as the scratch
Annual Radical up hat. are other cur
rent manifestations of
OAdASC. the successful efforts
of the matters to introduce strange and
outre customs into the mems hat busi-
ness According Ito the leading trade
journal Of the hat industry in the United
States, it is the purpose of the manufac-
turers' and retailers of hats to endeavor
i'm the future to make such radical
changes In the new hats offered from sea-
son to season that it will be quite tmpos-
sible for a man to pull out his last falI
soft hat and wear 1t in the spring months
that intervene between the derby and the
straw hat.
In other words, systematic effort is
being made to change the style OF men
| hats as distinctly, If not as radically, as
the milliners change the styles of wom-
| ems hats from season to season and from
wear to year. 1t can hardly be charged
| even nv the most enthusiastic trust
| buster that this Is a conspiracy in re.
straint Of trade.
Another salient change In mems is~sn.
| ions that also is traced to the death of
King Edward Is the passing OF that erst-
while uniform of SNUG responsibility, the
| suuare-skirted frock coat, known as the
| Prince Albert. At a national exhibition
of new models in mems clothes. partici.
| pated in by all the leading tailors of the
| country. not one Prince Albert was
shown. This garment. the most hideous
| and uncomfortable ever devised. was pop
| ularized and established by Prince Albert,
| the consort of Queen Victoria His son.
| as Prince of Wales and as king, main