1908
Reaction Is Sure
Fall Millinery Styles Are Too Extreme
Good Designers Realize That Revision And Modification Will Be Demanded American Women Who Dress Well.
Fall Millinery Styles Are Too Extreme
Good Designers Realize That Revision And Modification Will Be Demanded American Women Who Dress Well.
No siren ever called men to danger and destruction more effectually than do millinery openings lure women into bankruptcy of dress allowances. The enticements of the fall openings are many and deceptive.
At first glance, the average shopper with decide that all styles are extreme and she must be resigned. If she selects her hat on this supposition she is making a grave mistake, because after the exaggerations of the fall openings will come a reaction in favor of more sane styles. This much in warning. Do not buy your fall hat, which may have to last you well into winter, until you have studied the millinery field thoroughly. Do not pin your faith to the milliner's statement that only the extreme styles will be worn. Good designers already admit that the extreme styles of the moment will be revised and modified within a month's time. The American woman simply will not be made to look like a frump, and selecting an extreme style for millinery for general wear, not occasions, stamps the woman as the frump, the person of hopelessly bad taste. Naturally the first question raised at fall opening was this: "What will replace the merry widow sailor?" And the answer is: "The English walking hat, crossed with a man's silk tile." |
Not a promising outlook, is it, especially for the middle-aged woman of conservative tastes? And the oddest thing about the situation is that the woman who wore the merry widow sailor is quite sure that she can swing to the other extreme and look smart in the severe English hat which the millinery world is trying to popularize.
In addition to the walking hat described above, there are many large and bizarre shapes. The merry widow shape, probably a trifle larger in diameter, has a higher crown, and is bent in the back. Another large hat suggesting the summer picture hat, but trimmed with wintry fabrics, is as broad as the merry widow, but droops on the sides, suggesting the big sunbonnet or scoop-shaped hat. In fact, the extreme hats along these lines seem almost to touch the shoulder. Fluted brims appear, and while there is no bandeau, the brim is sharply tilted on the left side. Crowns are generally high, some running up absolutely straight and others graduated, smaller at the top than where they join the brim, like a peach basket. What few toques are shown at all have elaborately fluted brims and a very heavy look. - The Mahoning Dispatch, vol 32, no 27 (2 Oct 1908). Canfield, Ohio, USA.
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