|
|
|
|
|
Origins of the Red Hat Society
When I am an old woman I shall wear purple / With a red hat that doesn't go and doesn't suit me
The Red Hat Society is a social organization (or as they like to say, "dis-organization") for flamboyant women of a certain age. The Society was founded in 1998 by Sue Ellen Cooper of Fullerton, California. Today she serves as the organization's Exalted Queen Mother. Reportedly there are about 1.5 million registered members -- they call themselves Hatters -- in over forty thousand chapters in the United States and thirty other countries.
The Society's expressed goal is to encourage fun, silliness, creativity, and friendship in middle age and beyond; to look forward to aging, rather than dreading it. The Society is not a service club. They do nothing to support causes or other organizations. Hatters feel that they have done for others all their life and now it's time to have time for themselves. There are no initiations or fundraising projects. Women 50 and over wear red hats and purple attire to all RHS functions. In fact, they are required to. A woman under age 50 may also become a member, but she wears a pink hat and lavender attire to the Society's events until reaching her fiftieth birthday. Some Hatters feel that courage and freedom naturally flow from belonging to the Red Hat Society. For some, merely putting on the colors is liberating. (Which is odd if you think about it, since you are required to wear them! --C.) Hats are often quite lavishly decorated and accompanied by fashion accessories such as feather boas or jewelry in the RHS signature colors. The Society's events vary depending on the chapter, but tea parties are a favorite.
|
Red Hat Society brouhaha (ha ha ha ha)
...or as it was once said, "It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye."
Unrest roiled the ranks of redhatters in 2009 when the national RHS organization implemented a $20 yearly membership fee. You see, the RHS is a huge for-profit business, with conventions, travel agencies, credit card affiliations and an "official" online store with every variety of purple and red product under the sun. RHS corporate has not yet figured out how to charge random people for wearing its colors, though, just anyone who wants to be an RHS member. Since the imposition of the membership fee, ranks of local chapters have dwindled by as much as half. The issue may be more about control than funding. New rules require prospective members to fork over the twenty before receiving information about clubs in their area. Redhatters wouldn't be redhatters if they didn't possess a spark of rebellion. Thus LOTH (Ladies of the Hat) was born. LOTH members can wear any darn color of hat they please; the focus is on socializing and some activities that were prohibited to local RHS chapters by corporate. Visit ladiesofthehat.net for more information.
RHS publications
The organization has published four books:
Red Hat Society merchandise
There is a line of official RHS merchandise sold through their online store, but many more unofficial (and only peripherally related) goods are offered on eBay:
|
|