WHO’S YOUR HATTER.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2321, 25 August 1880, Page 3

WHO’S YOUR HATTER.

The liat makes tlie man, says llerthclier, a popular French, humourist'. A man ■without a hat, or a hat without a man is an unfinished pillar—a lid without a jar. When you see a man running in the street without a hat, JBcrthelier contains , you take him lor a lunatic or a thief ; and if you find a hat by itself on the hanks of a river, or on the corner of a drawing-room table, you instantly guess at a suicide, or that a man is hiding somewhere. Man and his hat are two elements that —apart —represent folly and chaos, and together make up an individual. Show mo your hat, cries Berthclicr, and I can tell you who and what you arc. He describes the hat of the Sjianish priest, which leaves the ears free so that the priest may hear everything, but which throws the face into deep shade ; the hat of the dashing mosquetaire, raised boldly and bravely from the face, and making no attempt at hiding; the famous cocked hat of [Napoleon; the French kepi, Ac., and in the course of his descriptions he makes some admirable observations. Men always relain, he says, the habit of a hat they have worn for long when young. Some men wear their hat on one side to their last day; others tilt it

forward ; the louts ram their hats down over their eyes, whit’ the men of genius are often compel! !, to wear their hats somewhat on ihe back of their heads, because of the bumps ivprosentiug all tlie noble qualities (hat rise up on the forehead ami prevent Ihe hat being pushed on. The man of intelligence who is overpowered by his animal qualities is forced to wear it forward. If a man’s character can be guessed at by the appearance of his hat how much more is it true of a woman. A youthful hat upon the head of a' middle-aged woman makes her appear frivolous, while a sedate bonnet placed upon the head of a young girl ages her, apparently, many years. A very largo bonnet or lint gives an air of boldness to the wearer, a very small one insignificance. The head-covering,’therefore, should be chosen with great care.