Hats Off!

Okay, I'm still a bit fixated with 1950's etiquette (per Amy Vanderbilt).

Today, it's hats, especially for women.  I'm not sure exactly when women stopped routinely wearing hats in public.  It may be about the time that the Kennedy family left the White House.  I remember women trying to emulate Jackie and her pillbox hats.  Men stopped wearing hats because John Kennedy went bareheaded so often.  And I don't remember Lady Bird Johnson wearing a lot of hats.

However, in the 1950's, women had all sorts of rules about when and where to wear hats (and gloves for that matter).

Sample question from M.M. in Oakland, CA:  "Do you feel that a woman public speaker must always wear a hat?"  Amy Vanderbilt:  "Not necessarily.  She doesn't wear one if she is in evening clothes.  In many urban communities, where hatlessness is a matter of choice, I've seen many distinguished women speakers without hats.  In very small communities, which tend to be conservative in this matter, it is probably well for the speaker to wear a hat in order to avoid criticism..."

Another woman (Mrs. J.A.F, Monroe City, MO) wrote in to say "I am confused as to when to wear a hat and gloves..."
Vanderbilt replies, "When in doubt, wear a hat -- and gloves..."  She goes on to make a list of hat rules, such as:
"1. Wear a hat and gloves to church and to any religious ceremony...
2.  Wear a hat to any formal reception...
3.  Wear a hat when making a formal call on an important person, such as a governor or a bishop.
4.  Wear a hat - or be prepared to do so - if you are a professional speaker before any group..."

There is an ongoing nostalgia for all things 1950-ish.  The thought being that it was a lovely time of peace and quiet following World War II.  While reading Vanderbilt's etiquette book, it looks to be just one more era of fairly rigid rules on what to where and how to act - lest one receive criticism for the simple act of not wearing a hat while giving a public speech.

Papillon