The New York herald., 1920-01-18
EGYPT AND CHINA
CHANGE PLACES
IN STYLE IDEAS
Scene Shifts to the Land of the
Pyramids in Inspiration
Procuring for Hats.
By AMY E. HoGEBOOM.

wv countries B not as incompatible
as the distance would suggest Be It
known that the scene of the inspiration
OF hats and headgear In general has
shifted from the latter country to the
| former.
The transition is more or less gradual,
but nevertheless very apparent At pres
ent 1t is typified by the pendant ornaments
at the sides of the headdress Of the an
cient royalty. Strangely enough, the de-
signers In Paris see nothing incongruous in
fastening these ornaments to the sides Of
the hats which take their form from the
Chin Wah shapes Nor, in fact, do they
see any reason for avoiding a Chin Wah
shaped crown fastened to a perfectly flat
western brim. Not at all. Most Of the
larger hats are on these lines.
In the Kurzman collection lately arrived
on Fifth avenue, are types Of hats to be
found at all the best makers in Paris. and
Mr.. Jules Kurzman has many illumina ting
things to say about them; also the hats
speak for themselves.
| Not unnaturally. Mr.. Kurzrnan dwelt on
the exorbitant prices asked for the in
spired creations, as well as their artistic
value. Heaven knows how many francs
were asked for hats which when translated
into American dollars ranged about $50.
and that, It must be admitted, is rather al
Igreat { sal. OF course, some cost more and
some a trifle less.
Even at these high prices, one may say
that the collection was decidedly salts
factory and there is some excuse for high
prices when there is so much merit
| In spite Of the fact that every hat. be II
Egyptianized or otherwise. shows Chin
Wah crown which is to say heaped up
| in the middle. it is astonishing to find
almost every hat absolutely different.
| One of the factors contributing to the
great variety is the difference in the ma
terials used. Straw, leather, flowers and
let material. are all used and still further
diversified in the manner in which they
are presented Jet beads laid in straight
rows Sc that the evenness and the fine
ness of the beads make It look like
woven material is the basis Of one fabric.
Another hat may be of fire silk hair line
straw without any weave at all but pulled
over the hat shape in broad strands.
There are hats made entirely OF HttleI
discs OF leather tackled down with nail
heads of beads or metal and a wonderful
trimming looks a great deal like feath-
cred breast across the front Of toque
II consists of tiny discs of cork and wood
edged with black ce'lophane.
Cellophane in loops. cellophane In hraids
| like straw, cellophane in combination with
leather and celloplane in every conceiv-
able form demonstrate what fertile
French brain may do with this new form
of celluloid which glistens like black Jet
Not as in other seasons can one say that
T. Ior ~ tya dc
collection than any other, although there
are a great many hats in black, and that
fact also contributed to the feeling of
infinite variety.
The larger shapes have usually rather
emphatically Chin Wah crowns and brims
which may droop ever so little at each
side.
However, no one SIZE seemed to be in evil |
|dence more than another. The off-the- |
face hat evidently has passed into oblivion.
for there are few traces that 1t ever ex-
'sted. except here and there hat with
|slant upward at one point or another.
A point very gratifying to those who ap- !
|preciate real French hats at their best is |
1.-The indescribable twist to the crowns OF
the hats. That uneven slant which looks
|so unnecessary off the head and is so OBJ !
viously right when properly adjusted on a
we'll dressed head of hair.
and other hats by this clever creator have |
been the talk of Paris, and justly. Mr.. |
Kurzman has brought over many Of the |
hats of this modiste, and it is hard to tell
which one is smarter or more striking than |
the other
One of Eliane's successes is the use of
leather in brilliant colors cut In shapes OF
fruit or flowers and couched with raffia, |
this intermingled so closely with embroid |
ery of raffia that there is not great deal
of the foundation to be seem
A Tam shaped hat on this order has the
slightly pointed up tendency at the centre |
of the crown. All over the surface the
leather fruit is used 1t is in shades Of
red tan and purple, the leaves done in
green raffia with an effect OF a Jumble OF
colors. However this tumble of colors |
may look to the uninitiated 1t Is not to be
lightly considered. No matter how hit or
miss the result may seem, there Is a
method to the combination. making IL at |
tractive or otherwise.
II is Eliane also who Is responsible Tor
the hat with the cork and wood trimming. |
The foundation of this hat Is In a sort
brown straw and the tiny discs OF wood
and cork are In the natural colors. tan and
brown edged with black celloplane- The
discs stand a bit on edge and are massed
at the front of the hat with bronze col
ored tassel hanging down at one side. |
This is Chin Wah shaped hat. brimiess.
A Jade color and black hat by Eliane is
strk.ngly good looking. Again, Eiiane
shows versatility. The shape of this hat
is like that of the one last described
partially Tam o. Shanter and partially
Chin Wah, but the treatment is very DIFF
ferent. In this case the discs are OF
leather jade color tackled to the founda
ton of black with tiny nail heads OF black
jet through the centre Of each disc SO that
the surface is flat.
In another shape the same treatment is
used covering the top surface OF the hat,
but. as this hat has brin, IL Is varied
by placing of black celloplane.
Not the least of the Eliane showing of
hats are those OF flowers. One, showing
the Egyptian motif, has extensions at the
sides of the close fitting Chin Wah shape
that strike points just In front OF eacn
ear. Part of this straw shape is covered
with flat flowers in Egyptian colorings
of reds and blues.
The exact shape OF these crowns with
brims and touues without brims is worthy
of a little study. In the centre or the topl
the tendency TO the point is seeny at the
front OF the crown there Is also point
and at each side. The back of the crown
is flattened off, leaving the shape some
what triangle with the centre raised.
II was Suzanne Talbot who first showed
the hat with the Egyptian pendants hang
H. - I'll