Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 169, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 July 1911 — The Panama Hat [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The Panama Hat

THE Panama hat of today is woven in sizes and shapes to suit the mode and yet retain something of its old characteristics, An insistent American demand finally persuadedlhe native South American WAflvArfl tn vorv th a ahnnoo thov had

thing of its old characteristics, An insistent American demand finally persuadedlhe native South American weavers to vary the shapes they had woven for so long and to make broader brimmed and larger crowned hats. The two models shown In the pictures represent new ideas combined with the old in an entirely harmonious manner. This exquisite straw fabric, the most beautiful of street or outing hats, will perhaps come to be made for all sorts of millinery, but at present we associate it with that for which It seems to have the greatest fitness—the utility millinery, and we like it best with the simplest trimming. A panama of this description holds the same position as that of the first-class strictly tailored gown. It cannot be outclassed. The problem confronting the milliner Is the conversion of the small panama of aether days into an acceptable hat of. today. She has met this difficulty In a number of ways. By turning down the brim and banking wings and chiffon about the' crown. Or by the addition of a border of silk

or ribbon to the edge of the brim and fancy feather bands of generous proportion about the crown. The flexibility of the crown makes it possible to turn it up or down anywhere. It may be considerably stretched also. Extra width, is sometimes let in the brim In another straw or fabric and concealed by a silk facing on the under brim and a soft scarf or sash on the npper brim. If the shape seems to be passable Without piecing there Is no other trimming better thhn a drapery of light silk or chiffon. The rule Is that the drapery should be light and durable like th'e hat; and In spite of its fragile appearance chiffon may be repeatedly washed. The owner of a panama hat should not use hatpins to fasten It on with. Hat fasteners should be sewed to the head band and thrust Into the hair to secure the hat to the head. It is almost a crime to thrust pins through the beautiful, painstaking weave of which the hat is made. The evidence of carelessness shows a lack of appreciation. When one sees a fine panama punctured with holes it Is a mark of Inelegance in the wearer.

JULIA BOTTOMLEY.