DRESS 247 



crown and broad brim type, which makes the wearer 

 look like a mushroom; also beware of the brim that 

 turns down — called the " latest thing out." A mod- 

 erate-sized crown and fairly closely turned-up brim, 

 resembling a man's conservative model, is the one to 

 choose. The material should never be anything but 

 felt, and silky shining surfaces should, of course, at 

 once be rejected. A narrow half-inch hatband is far 

 smarter than the broad band in general use. 



For spring or autumn wear a dark brown or a pearl- 

 gray bowler — or as it is quaintly called in England a 

 "white Billycock hat," is very smart. It should be 

 of similar shape and style as the black bowler, and the 

 hatband on a gray bowler should never be of any other 

 color than gray. A black band is permissible on a 

 gray topper, but looks extremely cheap on a bowler. 



The top hat is the dress hat and hunting hat par 

 excellence, but in order to be smart it must be properly 

 shaped. A good English shape with a medium-sized 

 crown, a very slight "bell" to it, and a fairly narrow 

 closely turned-up brim, similar to a man's topper, is 

 much smarter than those seen over here, with a low 

 flat crown and broad brim, which make the wearer's 

 face appear like the clapper under a huge Christmas 

 bell, or those cone-shaped affairs, which resemble a 

 cheap vaudeville actor's head-gear. 



Some people object to wearing a top hat on the 

 grounds that a bowler is more comfortable, and that 

 in our thick American coverts a topper soon gets 

 scratched up and requires to be "done up " after each 

 ride.* These minor disadvantages, however, might be 

 overlooked for the sake of the "smartness" that a 

 top hat bestows upon its wearer. 



* A topper stands rain, however, better than a bowler. 



