The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-09-15
Felt Is Popular: As Material
 For Hats

ouisite perfection; but If her hat IS a shade too wide or narrow, if its perky feather has been subdued by dampness if it all but hides the eyes when it should frame the face, the effect of a beautiful costume is utterly spoiled.
 Speaking broadly, women own more hats than any other single article ot dress. There is something about chic chapeau that wraps itself about Q woman's heart and cries. 'Take me home" And unless she is fashion deaf or past the age of personal vanity, she'll succumb and be richer by one more.
 Hats are much more practical now than they used to be a few years back. One old lady, who was in her prime thirty years ago, has said. "I believe the milliners were in a conspiracy with the weather Every time 1 put on a new hat of tulle, or feathers, or perish able braid, it rained, and it looked like a fallen cake, flat and soggy. Now the girls wear hats made of felt and velyets that need only q whisk or two of brush and spots from rain drops disappear"
 Be Fashion Deaf Now.
 One can afford to be fashion-deaf
  one hat to be taken home, because the milliners are fashioning charming hats that can fit into almost any occasion and be worthy of properly completing any costume.
 Even the French milliners, noted in the fashion world for their extrava- grance and ultra-smartness, are show ing hat after hat that is modest in material, conservative in shape, severe in trimming, any one of these has a distinction, fair, that raises it above the level of mere American hat into the rare linguistic atmosphere of a chapeau Francias.
 Brims are beginning to come into their own again after a long period of complete retirement.
 Crowns seem higher, too, and stiff fer, although two shown are soft and fairly low. Feathers of some kind or other are the preference is shown for their placement.
 The shapes of the hats themselves are extremely simple, becoming to all most any contour.
 For the girl with leaning toward tailored clothes is a severe, almost mannish shape, whose brim stands away from the face and rolls slightly. The material is very fine, silky felt, stiffened. The high crown rears up like the beginnings of a mans stove pipe" opera hat, but stops short at the most becoming point. A long, slender wing set slightly off centre adds height and a great deal of cleverness to an effect already out of the ordl- nary.
 Another model is shown whose crown is slightly stiffened and gives a tailored touch. This type of hat Is particularly good with suit or coat dress but will fit in as general utility article in spite of it's rather severe lines. The little dropping brim, and the stiff, outstanding group of feathers, although reminiscent of the styles a few years ago, are deftly handled in this French model. and recreate something new for milliners and hat fans to think about. The material is the finest grade of felt, tilky to the touch and as light and warm as down on the head.
 Felt Is Popular.
 Felt seems to be popular medium for the new fall hats, judging from those shown in the pictures. What ever woman's personal preference is. she must admit the practicalness and durability of felt. Felt Is good all the year around, and when the purchasing power of ones pocketbook is curtailed the same hat may tide over from one season to the next. Anything as charming as these models simply cries out for attention, and few women can resist.
 Soft crowns come in for their share of fashions favor in another hat ot felt. This type keeps its shape well as there is little stiffening to crack or collapse in damp weather. A medium width band of bright-colored feathers encircles the base of the crown.
 Fortunate is the fact that doesn't need a bow here to give width or quill there for height. The arrange ment of the ornamental feather on this hat offers neither height nor width, but puts the responsibility of becoming the wearer on the hat itself The shape is conservative, with the small brim that marks the departure from last seasons styles, and can easily stand the test.
 Dropping Over Brim.
 The puffy circlet of feathers droop- ing over the brim is the sweet, soft ening feature of the last hat. The placing of ornaments at this particular spot is perhaps the most popular in the millinery world. Specialists in headgear have experimented through past years and found that this ar rangement is the most becoming to the greater variety of faces. A slightly dropping brim, no matter how small, has softening effect, too, that most women desire in their hats.
 Color offers no problem in these hats, the uniform of the felt shapes being black. Silky felt or brushed beaver is best in black, after all, as it makes the most of the soft gleam and sheen. The quills and feathers are depended upon to give the brilliant touches desirable to q woman of smart tastes. A red quill may match red girdle on a dress, or the notes of a parrots gorgeous coloring may be re- peated in an insert of silk. Fashion de- crees that a costume should be a color unit, with at least a hint of the same colors on both hat and gown.
 What an intriguing situation it