HAT FASHIONS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26471, 27 May 1947, Page 2

HAT FASHIONS

MEN BAN FANTASY Hats which pile everything but the kitchen stove on women's heads are to be banned by the Associated Millinery Designers of London at their shows in future, and a special " hanging committee ” will select which hats are considered worthy of public attention and which are adjudged to be merely ridiculous. An English fashion writer recently took a selection of photographs of women's hats along to one of these male hat censors who is connected with a West End firm which is making a stand for less fantasy and more common sense. He pored over, them, with blue pencil -metaphorically at work and with caustic comments. He sees nothing odd in men censoring women's hats. " Men are often good judges of a hat,” he said, “ and I only wish more husbands went along with their wsves to choose a hat. They would stop them buying something that may be fashionable but does not suit them, for men always have at the back of their minds, ‘ Should I mind being seen out with her in that? ’" These designers are out to do three things—stop ridiculous hats, educate the public in what constitutes a good hat, and decry the idea that because something fancy comes from Paris it must be good. A good hat, the censor said, is judged by its line, it must look right from every angle, must cover the head adequately have blended colours, and set off the wearer’s face and clothes.

This does not mean that originality in hat making is discouraged. Even an old dishcloth, in the hands of an expert, can be an excellent hat, said the censor, but sheer fantasy is harming milliners and doing no good to their export drive.