Ladies in Hats Go Places: A Guide with Illustrations of What to Do... and What Not to Do

 Late for a show one day in New York, I hurried into a cab, exclaiming, "Could you please take me to the Plaza Hotel as quickly as possible?"

"Lady, with that hat, I'd take you anywhere!" the cabbie grinned. 

In her 1968 book I Haven't a Thing to Wear Judith Keith writes ecstatically about hats making the difference between drab and stunning.

A hat lends an indefinable magnetism that draws people. The lady looks elegant, distinctive, individual, important, regal, chic, well-groomed and very very special.

I love hats! I have always loved hats! In high school I had floppy brimmed hats and straw hats. I had pill box hats to wear to church in junior high. I have a big straw hat and a little brimmed straw hat today for sunny days and a knitted cloche for winter.

I look absolutely horrible in them; always did. Any kind. I have a round face and straight hair and glasses. I don't worry about my hair, or how the hat fits. I don't worry about standing out. All the excuses Keith attacks don't apply to me. I just look lousy in a hat.

Dad and I (in a hat) Easter 1958. 

Perhaps I just never learned the RULES.

So here is Keith's advice on HOW TO CHOOSE A HAT.

Prepare Thyself

• Have your hair set the way it will be when you are wearing the hat. 
• Make sure the design is scaled for your frame, balancing your overall proportions as well as complimenting your face.
• Chose colors that are kind and set a mood.
• DO NOT BUY A HAT until you check it out in a three way mirror.

Meet the Hats

• Small brims and tall-crowned hats look best on little women, lengthening their silhouette.
• Berets and flat crowns add elan to long hair. They shorten a long face, but don't look well on short hair or pulled back dos.
• Soft brims and profile hats look best on women who wear glasses.
• Turbans are for those with perfect features. Stuff it to keep it high and full. (A good place to stash an extra pair of nylons in case you get a snag). A widow's peak looks exceptionally good in a turban.
• Pill boxes and up turned brims are for lovely hairlines and happy faces.
• Round, bubble types and bowlers are best for long and slender faces.
• Chin straps and helmet type hats are for youthful faces and figures.
• Flowered hats seldom look elegant. 
• Big floppy straw hats look beautiful on most women.
• Black hats are best in fur, velvet, and shiny straws. It drains color from the face and is harder to look young wearing one.
• White felt is a basic hat that can be worn year round.
• Rain hats in vinyl or leather can be spiffed up with a tie or link chain.
• Hats sometimes look better worn backwards.

things you can do with a simple sailor type hat

Slip cover a hat with a scarf for a new look.

Women on the run can use a scarf in glamorous ways; don't wear it babushka style.

I guess I never learned about not wearing a babushka.

Me around age six

Me at age 20; I wore the babushka backwards.

When I was a girl we wore hats for church. 

My family at Easter in early 1960s. Grandma in a fur pill box hat.
 I have a floral headband. Mom in a pill box with flowers. And little brother a cute boy's hat. Dad didn't wear hats. Ever.

Mom and Dad's wedding in late 1940s; Mom and Aunt Nancy in fancy hats.

Now when I was a girl we all wanted to be cowboys. Even the girls wanted to be cowboys.

Me about age six at Frontier Land in New York State

My role model, cousin Linda, sporting her cowboy hat. I am in the babushka.

 Here I am around age 14 wearing a knitted hat and trying a hat out on a friend.

Somehow the Northern girl pulled it off but not me.

And yet, after reading this advice perhaps I will still find the elusive hat meant just...for...me...

Girls Who Wear Glasses

In I Haven't A Thing to Wear, 1968 fashion guru Judith Keith offers advice to us gals who wear glasses.

Keith begins, "One way of falling flat on your face is by not wearing eyeglasses when you need them...Don't be near-sighted about the opportunities for a fashionable look with eyeglasses. Broaden your vision to include a wardrobe of frames to magnify the importance of even the simplest look."

More seriously, she advises on choosing glasses according to face shape:

• Oval: you can wear anything.
• Round: slender, up-tilting lines break up the roundness of a round face. 
• Avocado shaped faces need width at the brow to counterbalance a large jaw. 
• Square faces need curves and round shapes.
• Rectangular faces needs the illusion of width. A straight-across-the-top wide frame with rounded lower edges will do this.
• Heart shaped faces do well with square frames.
• Diamond shaped faces need frames wider on the top.
• A long, narrow face needs large round frames.

Keith notes that she had a friend who had glasses made with fabric swatches to match her outfits. Now that is a slave to fashion!

My first glasses were cats eye shaped in clear plastic with pink and blue flakes. Mom had identical ones. We both had permed Bubble Cuts, like the second Barbie doll. And wore matching mom & daughter plaid shirts. I was about six or seven. I suppose we were 'fashionable'.

I come from a family of girls who wear glasses.

My grandmother Emma Becker Gochenour wore round glasses in the 1920s. 

My grandmother Gochenour in the 1970s

Mom in the early 1950s

Mom in the 1970s. I can't believe Dad dressed that way!

Me in glasses around 1960; that's my lil' brother next to me

Me in cat eye glasses around 1962

Early 1970s. I married a guy with glasses, too.

Me when glasses were BIG and so was hair.

This 1968 ad suggests that eyeglasses were sexy. I missed that message.

1968 was the year Mom got me contact lens. Hard and weighted, they were mighty uncomfortable. I was told I could have them tinted brown, blue or green. I went with green! After a few years I gave them up.

In her book Keith wrote, "My first contact lens reminded me somewhat of my first girdle. I hated wearing them! They were uncomfortable, cumbersome, and I always wanted to remove them in the middle of an evening. Today, however, foundation garments and contact lens are geared for both color and comfort. The plastic lenses may be tinted to any shade you wish and Lycra, a modern man-made fiber, makes a modern woman firmer."

I tried the gas permeable lenses later, but they moved with every blink and made reading hard. I gave them up. I have never wanted to try them again. Glasses suit me fine.

Are you a girl who wears glasses?

1968 Fashion Advice: Purses Are Not To Be Used As A Weapon

Judith Keith's 1968 fashion advice book is filled with great black and white illustrations. The advice may be dated but those of us who remember those days can enjoy a nostalgic trip down memory lane. 

Those who don't remember them can learn a few things about what their predecessors had to deal with. RULES about everything! Including how to carry a purse.

Ladies needed a wardrobe of purses for every occasion:

• Daytime: durable textured leather was preferred in basic colors found in one's wardrobe. Leather is preferred as more lasting than vinyls "and their quality enriches any outfit."
• Evening: all silk or velvet or beading
• Casual: winter wool or summer straw

Handbags with "handles" need to be carried close to the body so you don't "clobber others" with it. "Place arm through handle from the outside in, keeping palm close to the body. The handbag will be balanced and sit close to the hip."

Oh dear. How many innocent victims have you clobbered with your purse? 

Sometimes people purposefully use a purse to clobber. We once had a lady in fur coat clobber our 1973 VW Beetle while we were in it. My husband was trying to parallel park on a Philadelphia street. We were poor and needed the free parking. A Cadillac came up behind us and the driver didn't want to wait. So his wife got out and clobbered our car with a whale of a purse (leather I am sure) and shouted for us to MOVE. It was the only time I was attacked on a Philadelphia street.

Yes, handbags are the weapon of choice of little old ladies everywhere. Here is a story about a Tory Baronness who hit a cyclist with her handbag after he ran a stop light.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-508136/Tory-baroness-84-uses-handbag-whack-cyclist-jumped-red-light.html

Younger women know that handbags can also fend off unwanted admirers.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1552096/Youve-got-lovely-eyes.html

The use of the handbag as weapon is so prevalent TV Tropes calls it the "Handbag of Hurt", often "occurring in the Cat Fight and Wimp Fight." They list this usage in television, film and literature,

Keith wisely suggests a daily triage of what is inside your purse. Purge what isn't needed. But, what if we need a brick in case a gunman breaks into the school board meeting and we have to hit them with our purse? Or to save my colleagues? (These stories have appeared in the news.)

Sorry ladies. The rule is to carry that purse close to the hip and don't clobber others.

How to Lure Men: Wear Gloves?

Continuing to share from the 1968 book  I Haven't a Thing to Wear by Judith Keith's, the chapter entitled Conversation Pieces beings with the wearing of gloves.

my haul from the flea market last March

Accessories, Keith suggests, should not be overused. Edit, edit, edit; and when in doubt--don't!

Gloves can be used to provide 'distinction'. Keith suggested short cotton gloves be worn with a simple cotton dress on a supermarket visit! "Snappy leather shorties perk up popped-out plaids, prints and suits." Pant suits were to be paired with pigskins, which were also great for driving, riding, and hiking. Wool and black leather in winter, and long white gloves with a gown, are still worn today.

In 1969 I wore long gloves to the school dance. And wings. Had to have those wings.

And, she contends, gloves can be conversations starters.

Take a simple pair of gloves. In fact take two simple pair of gloves in the most basic colors: one pair black, one pair white. Walk into any party or any place where people gather, wearing one white glove and one black glove! You will certainly create conversation!

Carry it off with e'lan and elegance. You will make many new friends. Strangers will ask, "Do you always do that?"

"Do what?" you smile.

"Don't you know you are wearing two different gloves?" they continue.

"The only thing I know for sure, is that I have another pair at home, just like these," you reply easily.

Once at a cocktail party in San Francisco a handsome distinguished gentleman came up to me and introduced himself stating, "I have always wanted to meet a woman who wouldn't let her right hand know what her left hand is doing." The next two days in San Francisco were just divine.

My mother and father's 1949 wedding. Mom and her sister in white gloves.

Let's Get Looped: 1968 Advice on How to Wear a Scarf

At a library book sale I chanced upon a slim volume titled I Haven't a Thing to Wear: or getting down to basics in fashion and beauty by Judith Keith with Sandy Sprung. Published in 1968 the author was "dubbed the Fashionable Fraud." Keith was a popular lecturer, with a background in advertising, acting, editor, publishing and PR. The book is richly illustrated with amazing line drawings.

Today I am sharing advice from her 17 pages on how to wear a scarf.

I had a collection of scarfs back in 1968. They were very popular for many years, which is why every thrift shop has loads in stock. Wait until you see what can be done with them!

Keith begins with a tip for keeping scarfs in place: she sews a loop into her clothing! She used a self-belt loop or made a loop with fabric from a deep hem; one she suggests also using ribbon, leather, or felt.

She sewed the loop inside the neckline facing, brought the loop up and over the neck, then pinned the loop to the outside of the garment. When you didn't want to wear a scarf the loop was tucked back behind the garment.

She used one loop for a jewel neckline, two for scoop and bateau, and one at the bottom of the V neckline. One could also loop jewelry through the loops, or a bow.

The loop technique can also be used on sleeves and hems to add edgings of ruffles, fringe, lace, and bows.

• Bateau Flounce: Lift a 24" or 30" square scarf in the center. Pull through one's bra strap and out over the neckline. Tuck end under flounce. "Plunge a pin through the flounce to secure."
• Flower Flounce: follow same directions as for basic flounce; bring end of scarf out over the flounce. Widen the end into a well and secure in place with a small pin for a flower effect.

The Basic Scarf Fold: lay flat; fold ends into center and overlap. Double again for narrower effect. Scarf will lay neat and flat on neck. Variation: make a square knot and wear as a simple tie.

Bra-Cross: Using a 24" or 30" scarf in the basic fold, drape around neck, cross ends in front, secure around bra straps. "Looks smashing" under a cowl, ring, or stand-u collars.

Pussycat Bow: A 24" scarf makes a smaller, tighter bow; a 36" scarf a softer one. Make basic fold. Pull scarf part way through loop. Widen bow to create fullness. Accent with pin. Use silk crepe or twills for firmer bows and chiffon for wispier ones.

Blithe Spirit: Using two scarfs, tie ends together into full, fussy tie. Secure to the front of the dress and toss panels over the shoulder. Use two matching or complementary scarfs. Or pull a single chiffon or silk crepe oblong through loop and fling backwards.

• Pleated Flounce: Use 36" squares. Hold scarf taut in both hands. Accordion pleat by folding back and forth. Drape around neck, pull through loop and separate folds for a soft fall.
• Ring Flounce: Make a pleated flounce, then pull scarf up at shoulders.
• Jabot Flounce: make a pleated flounce; shorten one end, pulling it over the longer end. Anchor with pin.

Smoke Rings are circle scarfs, cut and sewn on the bias which permits stretching. They slip over the heat and can be used as a headband, hat band, or around the neck held by pins.

• Side Sweep: drop over head, pull through loop.
• Dropped Bow: Pull through loop without dropping over head.
• Jabot: Pull through loop, bringing shorter end over longer end. Pin.
• Shoulder Flounce: Pull Smoke Ring through a bra strap.
• The Elizabethan: The dramatic Elizabethan look is created b draping smoke rings over turtlenecks. Fold smoke ring in half lengthwise. Drape inner fold inside neckline and the outer fold over turtleneck. 
• Smoke Ring Epaulet: Attach a pin to the shoulder of dress and pull a smoke ring through.

Knotted Ascot: Lift a 24" or 30" square directly in center and knot. Flip scarf over so the knot is inside. The knot should be centered. Pull any two ends taut. Tie ends in back of neck. Tuck under collar. If there is no collar, pin ends in back to keep neat. Tuck lower end into bra and secure.

The Vaquero: Fold scarf into triangle, point forward. Bring ends to front and tie as in Sketch 15.

V-Necklines are perfect for round faces, short necks, heavy bosoms or jowls. 

• Criss-Cross: Oblong or 36" square with basic fold, bring around neck and criss cross under bosom. Pin to bra.
• V-Loop: Pull scarf through loop sewn into bottom of "v". Drape ends out and over."A lady at EXPO '67 told Keith she had sewn loops into her bra!)
• V-Bows: Pull scarf through loop and tie into flowing bow.

The 1970s were noted for women using scarfs and handkerchiefs for blouses. Tiny women, I am sure. Keith showed how to create the Scarf Blouse, which was "perfect for traveling and when you are tired of the blouses you have." Fold 36" square into a triangle. (For larger women use a square of wide fabric.) Sew snaps into the top of the triangle. Snap and drop over head. Tie the other two ends around the waist. Add a jacket. 

"...the scarf is cool, comfortable, and no one knows the difference unless you take the jacket off!"

Use two 36" chiffon squares for another look.

The Scarf Dickey could be used under a jacket or without. Use a 48" oblong scarf. Criss-cross, overlapping ends and stitch to a ribbon or belt to circle the waist. Gather in soft folds and stitch. Keith note one could try dickies in felt, brocade, velvet; appliqué, embroider, trim and "fringe at will". 

In another post I will share Judith Keith's advice on accessories.

Read newspaper article about Keith on Goggle newspapers:

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2199&dat=19810426&id=yakyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8-cFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6737,5418476&hl=en

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=266&dat=19610211&id=yc0wAAAAIBAJ&sjid=59wFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2466,3809341&hl=en

Sandy Sprung wrote for Married With Children and other television shows:

http://marriedwithchildren.wikia.com/wiki/Sandy_Sprung