Evening star., 1933-04-09
BY MARTHE BLOT.

7 ATS are our most revolutionary
- article of dress. What do I
mean by that? Simply that
l. l. no other part of the costume
changes so rapidly or so rad
ically. No other part of the costume
goes out of style so quickly. The hat 6
months old might as well be 20 years
old-so sharply do hat styles change
What does that mean in terms of
the individual woman? 1t means that
she must learn to adapt herself quickly
to new styles. She must look at the
new mode and see in it the styles which
viii be f1attering to herself. She can't
wait until every one has grown used
to the changed mode, for if she does
she finds herself at the very end of
the parade. No, there's only one way
! to be chic where hats are concerned
and that is to learn very quickly indeed
to like what is new.
That is not always so hard as it
seems. Take. for instance, the matter
Of color This Spring every one is
wearing gray, clear, neutral gray that
is very lovely in itself, but that is not
always easy to wear. Gray had hardly
been introduced when 1 found my
clients coming to me with this COM
| plant. I'VE can't wear gray; it is
too hard, too aging" I agreed with
them. 1 knew quite well that only
few women could wear a pure unre-
ieved gray. SO what did I do? l
continued to make gray hats, to match
the gray trOcks and suits that cou-
| turlerS were showing, but 1 introduced
note of color. Often this was navy
blue, because l knew that navy blue
was an almost universally becoming
color. This little touch of blue on the
| hat brought light to the eyes, empha-
sized the color of the cheeks. 1t was
very little thing, but it was sufficient
to make the difficult gray tone adapta-
bic to many women.
X 4 = x
THEN to those few women who did
not find the note of blue sufficient
I explained that was ready to SUBJ
/ stitute for the blue whatever color they
found most flattering. That might be
a dash of bright red, or a clear yellow
/ II might be soft brown or a fiat
tering green. For there is scarcely a
/ color that could not be combined with
/ this neutral gray, changing its char
! acter and giving it fattering quality
| it lacked before.
When I had made these few changes
found that my clients were no longer
complaining that they could not wear
! gray. They discovered that they could
wear gray, when it was adapted to
/ them, through the introduction of
becoming color. They even discovered
that they could create some very new
| and lovely harmonies by combining the
two tones. There is, for instance, clear
yellow and gray-an unusual harmony,
/ but most effective one for the woman
Of certain coloring. One of my clients,
at my suggestion, quite transformed a
light gray suit by choosing, to accom-
pany it, soft felt hat with an orna-
ment of bright yellow.
Similarly. shape may be adapted to
the individual. Right now Paris has
gone mad over the chechia or feZ.
This type of fabric hat, as first created,
was stitf and hard and was, as a result,
| becoming only to a few women But
women themselves realized the smart
ness of the new mode and began to
make little adaptations of their own.
They demanded softer crowns, which
could be draped to their own types.
They began studying the new hats.
learning how to place them on their
heads, at what angle to wear them.
In word, they began to adapt them
selves to the new type of hat. Now,
one sees not only one kind of feZ, but
many. One sees women of various
) types wearing them, but each one
! wearing the hat in such an individual
. way that it does not seem hanal or
dull, but exceedingly interesting.