SUBSTITUTES FOR THE FEZ.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 78, 3 April 1926, Page 17

SUBSTITUTES FOR THE FEZ.

SOME AMUSING RESULTS. | MODERNISING OF TURKEY. Writing in the London "Daily Chronicle," Mr. Maurice Pernor gives a few glimpses of the sartorial changes now observable in Angora, the new capital of Turkey, as a consequence of Kemal Pasha's edict that Western dress, and. particularly Western headgear, must be worn by the faithful for the future. Of Kemal* himself. Mr. Pernot writes: "Kemal Pasha has changed a good deal in two years- He is no longer the rough military leader, short of speech and fixed of gaze, with occasionally a bitter smile at the corner of his mouth. He seems to have acquired a new countenance, more civilian, if one may put it so, opener, and, above all, more expressive. Yet for those who knew him before, this new countenance of his is less natural and appears studied. His voice, too, has changed. It is softer and more melodious. " 'The last transformation' is how the banishment of the time-honoured fez is described. But though the last, it is not the least. One does not now see in the streets of Angora a single fez or i a single kalpak. Such is the Ghazi's 1 order. The bourgeoisie . have bought hats, the workmen and peasants have procured caps. These new head coverI ings have caused no little embarrass- > ment to those who wear them for the j first time in their lives- One man will place the peak at the back of hi= neck, j ' another at the side- ■ You can - see children's hats of white'or pink p que ; perched on enormous heads of which | they merely cover the crown. Some I men. displaying a zeal that is more - ardent than enlightened, have purchased women's hats, and wear them as best , they can. But others —and these the I poorest—go bareheaded rather than put !on the proscribed fez which has now j become the symbol of reaction and j obscurantism. As for the functionaries and employees, the Government has given them an advance of salary, so as [ to permit them to buy hats and clothing ■in the Western mode." i