Mad, er, Red Hatters

I went with my Mom to a fabric store on Saturday, and we thought they were giving away something because the parking lot was full and we had to park at the nursery next door.  We went in and the store was packed.  I walked around the store and didn't see any contests or giveaways going on.  What I did see was about 20 or so women clammoring over Red Hat Society fleece.

The fleece was garrish.  There must have been a dozen bolts of it, all different yet tackily the same: different shades of purple with the infamous Red Hat in different shapes, sizes and styles.  They also had quite a few bolts of cloth with the Red Hat Society theme.  Mom asked me what was up with all of the purple and red cloth in the store and I took her aside and gave her a synopsis of the Red Hat Society.  She was fascinated, but not to the point that it was something she would want to join.  When she got her red felt and we went up and got in line at the cash register, she struck up a conversation with a Red Sat Society in front of us.  Mom commented on the "colorful" fleece and asked what the woman was making.  The Red Hatter proudly said they were all making fleece bath robes. 

Let me tell you a bit about the Red Hat Society.  It's a club made up of older women who wear purple clothes and red hats.  I'd venture to guess there's thousands of these clubs all over the country.  The Red Hat Society gets their name from an old poem whose first line says "When I am an old woman I shall wear purple, with a red hat that doesn't go and doesn't suit me."  Well from the Red Hat Society women I've seen, they've got that part down pat.  The first time I read that poem was in 1990 in a frame shop in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.  In fact, that's the only time I've read the poem.  With the internet and email giving people the [annoying] ability to forward sappy email stories, I'm really surprised I haven't gotten hundreds of copies of the poem. 

Soooo this poem is at least 14 years old, and all of a sudden we have packs of older women wearing red hats and dressing in purple.  It evidently wasn't trendy a couple of decades ago, but now it is.  It's so trendy that the groups pop up everywhere.  I saw 2 or 3 groups at each of my 4 trips to the state fair this summer.  As if they don't already stand out in a crowd wearing purple and red, they were all all loud and obnoxious and drawing even more attention to themselves.  I also saw a group over at the Caesar's casino boat last month.  With the holidays around the corner, I'm sure we'll see the clubs dining out at restaurants celebrating.  You won't have any trouble spotting them, that's for sure. 

Let the Red Hat Society women do their thing - more power to them.  I'm content with being a Diva - at least we don't have to pay dues or wear purple and red.