Red Hats are Taking Over       

Ladies of The Red Hat Society are the leading force behind women wearing hats and their number is growing daily. Red Hat chapters are springing up like wildflowers after a spring rain.  In April there were six chapters in Oceanside California where I live.  Today there are at least 11 registered and two more starting in the next few days.  This phenomenon is growing so fast it could equal the burning of the bras in the 60s. Of course, since admission to join is being 50 or older, we are talking about some of the same bra-burning women of 40 years ago, the baby boomers who make businessperson’s eyes twinkle.

The organization’s focus is celebrating the aging process and approaching transitions with a great “Hattitude.”  One of the best parts of belonging is all you have to do is “dress up, show up and have fun.”  No committees, no fund raising, no ticket selling.  Just pure hedonistic fun for those of us who have already paid our dues in organizations working on worthy causes most of our lives.  Now we can sit back and enjoy.

Dressing up was fun when we were little girls, now it’s fun for us “oldies.”  One of the few rules of the group is to wear a red hat and purple outfit.  If you are under 50 you must wear a pink hat and lavender outfit.  (In your birthday month you may wear a purple hat and red outfit.)  Getting those purple outfits together is a challenge, but also fun.  In my shop I have a huge selection of purple outfits and red hats as well as pink hats and lavender.  I also have purple hats.  Groups of red hatters come in daily and laugh themselves to near hysteria trying on purple outfits, red hats, feather boas, and gloves and picking out red hat jewelry.  I take pictures and send them to the Queens as a memory of their visit to the shop. 

By the way, each group has a Queen mother who serves as the loosely termed leader.  Each group is autonomous and makes its own “rules” or not as they see fit.  Groups have unique names too.  I belong to the Prissy Purple Princesses and the California Dreamers. Other names include Red Hat Tamales and their Queen is Queen Salsa; Hell Raisers, Red Hat Mammas, Red Hat Floosies, Girls Just Want to Have Fun.  There are thousands of chapters and the creativity behind the names is endless.

So, if you are a woman around 50 years of age and you want to have a good time, check out this upbeat wonderful organization. If you have longed to be a Queen start your own chapter and HAVE FUN.