HAT FASHIONS

Matamata Record, Volume XIX, Issue 1741, 22 June 1936, Page 2

HAT FASHIONS

DUCHESS OF KENT TO THE FORE The Duchess of Kent has started a series of hat fashions. At the time of her marriage, she began a craze for pill-box “marina” hats. Ever since she has been a leader of British fashions. Her new hats live up to this distinction. There are eight of them. Three are all black and of. these two are straw. All are worn well forward on the head. The most unusual has a shallow black crepe crown and no brim. At the back the crown goes down into a point. In place of brim there is a narrow twist of black feathers and a pair of black feather Mercury wings, one each side | of the hat. It is meant to be worn well I forward on the head and at an acute angle so that one eyebrow is almost covered. 1 I An Ear-ring Fashion. This hat has started a one-side earIring fashion. The ear on the side that the hat dips down should be hidden by a soft wave of hair. The other ear should be half exposed and should have a neat pearl ear-ring or a daub of rouge. This gives the head a balanced appearance. I Another of the Duchess’ hats has a ' wide curving brim of black straw. Its 3 shallow crown of stiff net is hidden by r a wreath of gardenias. Beneath the brim at the back is a bow of black corded ribbon. This - hat is designed 1 for garden parties and similar semi- * formal occasions. 1 . 1 Other hats created by London designers are just as original. One t seen recently had sewn to the crown . silver bells that tinkled when the . mannequin nodded her head. She carried a bag which was also decorated . with silver bells. ' j Another hat had a pair of hearts ! pierced with an arrow. Veils of lace, 1 cotton and silk are still popular. Some ’ have tiny splashes of. vivid paint Others are ornamented with sequins ’ or glistening beads. . i Carrots as Trimming. In America hat trimmings are even queerer. Hats trimmed with miniature carrots, string beans and radishes were a feature at one of the season’s outstanding fashion shows of summer clothes in New York. Colours inspired by the vegetable j garden will be the fashion this sum- | mer in America, it was revealed. ■ Among the new hues will be wax bean yellow (a soft, wax yellow), parsley ' green (a fresh, bright green),.rhubarb 1 rose (a vived coral), cabbage red (a fuschia win colour) and garden blue, i “the soft, mauve-like shade of the Texas blue bonnet flower.” “Texas Ranger” hats, fashioned with cloven crowns and soft broad rolling bi'ims will go with clothes for J spectators at sports events. “Sun-' j shine Shadow” hats, with the shalJ lowest possible crowns and wide, up--1 rolled brims, were shown with sumj mer suits and afternoon clothes, while i boyish caps and bretons appeared with i bicycling outfits. All the costumes were displayed by , mannequins whose lipstick matched the tones of their finger-nail enamel I and whose powder and eye shadow 1 i were selected to reflect the colour of their costumes. I