ABOUT HATS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLI, Issue 20308, 6 January 1936, Page 12

ABOUT HATS

ASTONISHING CHANGES The large-brimmed hat is again with us, all ready to protect our skins from the too fierce glare of the sun, and also to cast a becoming shadow over our eyes (states an exchange). These hats are of many different shapes this season, so that we can all And at least one style which really does suit us, and we can also choose the width of brim which is in proportion to our height and the size of our features.

It is quite impossible now-a-days to give any definite rules as to the shape of hat which suits any particular type of wearer. The reason is partly because hats are now made in so many grades of shape and size, and partly because with the aid of clever, modem make-up, you can make your face appear thinner or fatter. In this way you alter your appearance to an astonishing degree.

The only safe thing to do is to try on a variety of hats, and to view yourself in every position in a full-length mirror. Merely to look at your face in a hand-mirror, or a looking-glass which only reaches to your waist, is no indication as to whether the hat which you are wearing is right for you or not.

If you are going to wear a hat which turns off the face, showing the forehead, then you must arrange your hair acordingly, in a little swirl across one side of the forehead, and with soft flat curls at the temples. But when you are wearing the large hat which dips forward over the right eye, then no curls should come between the hat and the forehead. Instead the hair should be curled rather high at the back of the head with a sideways wave-line, so that all the hair which the hat leaves uncovered is curled or waved.

The hats themselves are made of various kinds of straw, and two-colour effects carried out in different fabrics are much seen. We often find a dark crown allied to a light-coloured brim, such as a navyblue crown, very flat and shallow, and made of finest felt, above a wide, spreading brim of flat, coarse straw in the new shade of pink. The same type of hat is also seen in brown and natural colour, or black and white.

Dark petersham ribbon is also seen in the shape of a draped crown above a brim of fine straw, and there are lots of hats made entirely of coarse straw in several colours, woven to give a checked effect.

Light hats are very often trimmed with dark ribbons, neatly applied, so, you see, you can change your hat band according to your dress.

Some of the smartest hats are very large, with brims which turn up all the way round. They are worn tilted over the right eyebrow, and have a charming air of youthfulness for those who possess the right type of features to show them off successfully.

Tall women do well to take advantage of the vogue for large-brimmed hats, since the small ones serve to increase their height. Little women should choose a discreet size, shady without being large enough to make the wearer look dumpy.