quote:
Originally posted by Sherasi:
In my region I never see women or men wearing hats.. unless they are Amish. Unless you count baseball caps.
Yes, when did young peopla start wearing headgear? In the old days [certainly in Britain] the men all wore proper hats but the young never did.
Some women don't wear hats at weddings in Britain now, though that is exceptional. I often wear a hat: panama in Summer, trilby at race-meetings [de rigueur for the true racing man], tweed caps in the country and so on. However, particularly in France, the everyday hat is noticed and people ask where it is if I do go out hatless
This is after years of my not wearing one. (There is a slight trend towards men wearing hats again here. Perhaps they all start with baseball caps and the like as youths and some progress to a more advanced stage.
) At Royal Ascot races the top hat and morning suit are still obligatory, as they usually are at formal weddings.
The tie is in decline though.It is common to find that men go tieless to the Royal Opera House, whether to opera or ballet. Balletomanes were always more bohemian than opera people but the opera is just as informal now as ballet (good thing, too) Few restaurants in London require a tie though some do not permit diners to be in shirtsleeve order.(A lot ban mobile phones, but that's another matter )
One curiosity is in art. The opening evening of the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition had a dress code of 'glamorous'. This translated into the men arriving dressed in good jeans and very classy casuals but the women dressing up to the nines as though about to receive an Oscar
One hat that is never seen in Britain now is the bowler, that hat so associated with English men.It is now extinct and shows no sign of returning.
