At The Head of Summer Chic

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 514, 17 November 1928, Page 20

At The Head of Summer Chic

Hats That are Piquantly Smart

Importance in Regard to Ensemble Laces and Chiffons

Undoubtedly hats are much influenced by the fashions in dress. The higher fur collars made close-fitting toques, turbans, and hats with brims fitting close to the nape of the neck an\ absolute necessity during the winter and early spring. Now we are wearing eollarless coats, dresses with little scarfs, in fact, summer fashions. The time has come for a new line. While you may secure many varieties of types of hats, you will find that this season they have all a characteristic in common—a brim that is symmetrical —with possibly one excep.ion—the model in lace crinoline. The latter being a fanciful hat, the material does not need any originality of shape to give it distinction. It is rather extraordinary how swiftly the wide-brimmed hat has come Into its own again, and yet it is hardly to be wondered in, for have we not had a succession of seasons dedicated to headgear of skull cap neatness of fit and style? The wide-brimmed hat is a necesj sity for summer wear in this climate ! of ours, and if it be recognised and recommended by the arbiters of fash!on, then so much the better. The jne great mistake that we are apt to make is in wearing the headgear of generous brim with any type of dress, and on any and every occasion.

It is absurd and most inartistic to imagine that the same style of hat is suitable for every and any dress. Sports suits, still very popular, designed of summer-weight material, call for small close-fitting hats which carry little trimming, but when it comes to the ultra-elaborate lace, printed chiffon, georgette, and floral silks, the ornate hat seems a necessity. Important Points This is an important point which the best of our designers have taken infinite trouble to stress. They have pointed out. and with good reason, that for several seasons back the habit of wearing sports suits everywhere has been overdone. Women seemed to have forgotten that each hour of the day. just as each social function, calls for costumes which differ in general outline. The women of 1926 and 1927 went literally crazed over the sport ideal. They ran it to death, so now the pendulum is swinging backwards. We are adopting the more artistic ideals of a few decades ago, and applying them to our present-day needs and ideas in* dress. We are still all devoted to our trim and comfortable sportive clothes, but we do not insist on wearing them at all hours of the day and on all occasions. The really festive and costly

dresses with feminine flares and godets of 'lace and frothy looking chiffon are worn at race meetings, and by the majority of women. Many of the models exploit the ultra-feminine cape; the graceful drape is usual, and the fly-away uneven pointed hem which flutters around the ankles of the wearers is a ruling vogue. With them are worn decorative hats of picture shapes which are in keeping with the flounces and drapes. Some have rather elaborate trimmings of beautiful flowers; wide velvet and satin ribbons are used to trim leghorn and tuscan hats of poke-bonnet outline. Many depend on the beauty of the straw, the shape of the contrasting lining, with the addition of a novel little pin or brooch for adornment. Indeed, the simpler the hat, be it large or small, the more fashionable. A wide-brimmed hat may have a deep curve down on the side where it has a fold. This to harmonise with the flowing lines of the chiffon, and printed crepe de chine frocks of the dressy go-to-the-raees or garden party type. Another large black hat may have an inlet band of natural coloured straw to match the lining to the brim. It is trimmed with a simple band of black ribbon over a straw coloured one, the plain ends forming its only decoration.

Fanciful trimming is absolutely out of keeping with the modern hat. We may bend the brim and twist it in any direction we choose, but the chic woman will permit of no flowers or other decoration to break the natuial line of the head. As For Trimming The nearest approach to what is conventionally understood by trimming is when we put a narow ribbon of two or three colours on the hat. Then one will match the colour of the hat itself, and the other two will match colours that are reproduced in the dress if it happens to be a printed one, or in a scarf if it is worn. Trimmings died when hats ceased to possess a separate entity. At: one time women used to wear a particular hat, just because they fancied it was becoming to them, or because they felt they liked it. Now the hat has become part of the ensemble. It must not attract attention to itself, but form an ekpential part of one harmonious whole. Should you decide to give your hat added importance by the addition of a bow, you need not fear that you will be out of the mode, but you must see that the bow'® exactly matches the colour of the hat. In this way the emphasis on the symmetrical line caused by the size of the velvet bow is minimised by the fact that the whole colour note is monotone. Types and Styles Elimination is the safest decision to make when choosing millinery. The beginning and end of being chic in the matter of hats is line. It is line that makes a hat becoming, and the smartest hat often trims itself by the brim being cut in such a manner as to lend itself to some form of drapery or twist. There are some hats that are like modern art. They are so clever that you have to be educated up to them. The Parisienne wears this type of "hat to perfection, because with her to be “chic” is an instinct —an inborn quality. Women of other nations on the whole find such hats trying and unbecoming. We want hats that have beauty of line and proportion, and this is only secured by moulding the hat to the head. Hats that have brims curved to the nape of the neck, hats that are becoming to the face, and which can be put on at home without the guiding hand of a fitter or milliner to give it a twist here and a pinch there to attain perfection, is what the average woman wants. The woman who is most successful with her millinery is the woman who has found the hat which is most becoming' to her, and that suits the type of her dress. Bangkoks Still Smart Natural coloured straws in finest Bangkok, or the coarse chip, are smarter than any other colour, and black cir , ribbon is a favourite trimming. Navy hats come second in popularity, and cire is also used on these. One particularly attractive one had a design of leaves worked in the cire ribbon. Velvet streamers are returning io favour again, particularly for hot weather models, and special occasions, such as weddings and garden parties. Black tulle is considered modish with a decoration of velvet streamers and possibly one large rose on the brim. -Lace is very smart, and transparent lace brimp in natural or black are combined with straw crowns. If flowers are desired, then see that they are wild flowers or the old-fashioned species, such as cornflowers, wallflowers, pheasant-eye narcissi. Original bindings for plain straw crowns are a new fad. The crown of a cream Bangkok was finished with a tiny brim of blue and red patterned crepe stitched on to a binding of blue felt. The correct accompaniment is a scarf around the neck, in the same tones.