The Guardian

What a merry chase fickle fashion is leading us this season in regard to the hats we wear. Starts us off at the dawn of spring with flower or fabric-drape toques so tiny (some of them) as to be almost amusing, yet withal so flattering and so chic, even the new broad brims cannot entirely wrest their well-earned honors from them. And then what does capricious fashion do—suddenly announces brims so tremendously wide they fairly amaze one.

Which, summed up, means every fashionable wardrobe of hats this summer must necessarily include both types to be worn as time and occasion demand.

As to the new broad-of-brim vogue so full of promise for the coming months, no matter how big your hat with a brim, it will be none too large, according to fashion's way of thinking. None too dramatic either, since the new brims are daring indeed, and to make them appear the more so they are worn with a dash and a go that adds infinitely to their style.

The wide-brimmed, strictly tailored felts which proved themselves so definitely good-looking with the new spring suits continue to have a firm hold on the affections of well-dressed women. Outstanding among these striking felts are the simple, huge, sailor types, the stunning, large Bretons and the very new rippled or pleated, soft, flaring, felt brim that, to be perfectly chic, must be worn far back on the head.

Of course the latter are necessarily dedicated to youth, for who but the ingenue smooth of brow dare venture so striking a fashion?

The fact that the off-the-face broad brims are essentially a young sophisticate item should not by any means imply that the vogue for enormous brims is confined to the teen-age and debutante set. On the contrary, the off-face wide brim is merely one phase of the matter, for whether you are in the life begins at forty' class or not, the message of the wide brim is all-inclusive, for certain it is and true, there's flattery a-plenty in the new wide brims, whether you are sweet sixteen or "plus."

The new wide-brimmed summer straws are everything you want them to be. The stunning hat worn by the smart young woman, standing above to the right in the illustration, speaks in accents of red, as also does her belt, which is a brilliant red patent leather. for be it known that fashion is making a sensational splurge of red this summer, red hats being a pet hobby just now.

Broad of brim and utterly fascinating is the hat which the young sophisticate standing below to the left in the picture is carrying. It is made of raffia in colors matching those of her gay plaid frock and still gayer raffia sandals.

The vogue for white millinery came early and is going to stay late. Women of fashion have been wearing white hats in accordance with style dictate since early spring and as the summer advances the popularity of white headgear is rushing along at a crescendo scale. The white straw breton pictured above to the left flaunts a cluster of strawberries nested in its crown—another instance of the flair for red with white.

Black holds its own in spite of the tremendous play being made on color this season. See the off-face Breton below to the right in the group. A crisp white bow and head-band enlivens the black to perfection—just the type hat to wear with prints and summer town clothes.

(Released by Western Newspaper Union.)