Since when does red and purple rule? Can you believe this pattern leaflet? And you can make 9 absolutely regal designs too...oh ya, for sure...because red and purple are the BEST colours to put together...NOT! Here's the description for the pattern leaflet:
Indulge in a little red and purple yarn, the brighter the better, and create absolutely regal crochet designs for yourself and your wanna-have-fun friends! Start with a wardrobe of red hats -- we've included three charming styles. One even has a matching tote bag. Fling one of the three fun and easy scarves around your neck and you'll be fabulous! And if you really want to feel like you reign over the world, make a Royal Scepter and be in command at all your royal gatherings. Proudly wear your red and purple splendor -- you deserve it!
Bright red and purple to make you regal and to feel like you're reigning over the world? Okay, puke...and then make yourself a sceptor and proudly wear your red and purple splendor? Oh my! And if that's the sceptor she's holding in the picture, she better be careful...looks a tad like a witch in a red & purple hat! And that is definitely regal!
Ah, the Red Hat Society. The concept behind it is good (celebrating being old, rather than disappearing into the background)... but those colors are JUST. SO. HIDEOUS. TOGETHER!
ReplyDeleteThere's a poem that started it all... I'm sure you could find it if you had a mind to. It starts out something like "When I am old, I shall wear red...."
Ok... here you go. It may help to understand the phenomenon, but if you're like me, it won't make you like it all any better:
ReplyDeleteWarning
When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick the flowers in other people's gardens
And learn to spit.
You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.
But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.
But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.
-- Jenny Joseph
Love the website, but get with the 55 and over program! These are the red hat society colors. Just look at the website, and you will understand: http://www.redhatsociety.com/
ReplyDeleteI'm not really too sure on what it's all about, but these clashing colors are at the heart of a soon-to-be cult. ;-)
Liz
MAGNETO!!!!!
ReplyDelete(Any of you who read Marvel Comics will immediately know what I mean. Red, purple, and 100% gray hair. Thank you for letting me get that out of my system.)
Wow, I found this blog very informative. Keep it up.
ReplyDeleteI can deal with clashing colors (as long as I don't have to wear them), but the scepter is just too much for me.
ReplyDeleteSpeedwell said : "MAGNETO!!!!!"
ReplyDeletebwahahahaha. Does that mean the Red Hat ladies are actually part of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants? Because it would explain...well, nothing. Funny, though.
Those ladies are rather fanatical. I was at an arts and crafts show with my mom. She sold felted purses, and I sold scarves. The number of women who came to check out her red purse with the purple button was amazing. It's like red and purple are crack to them.
Oh my, I never knew this was a cult...just figured it was some really bad colour combining and a selling tactic to convince women it's "regal" to wear this God awful colour combination.
ReplyDeleteI suppose you realize the irony of having a red and purple banner at the top of your blog, don't you?
ReplyDeleteI used to think red and purple were the best colors together. But I was like 8, and really into My Little Ponies. I think anything 20 years ago and older should not be held against anyone. LOOK! I've redeemed myself, alright? ALRIGHT?!
ReplyDeleteI love that the poem was about individuality and being brazen and not having to provide for others anymore and it's been turned into a society that's bordering on cultlike with all sorts of rules and regulations and junior members who have to wear lavender and pink. You should wear red and purple when you're old because you can, not because you have to.
ReplyDeletematt... :) actually, it's more like red burgundy going into blue with a hint of purple and is a pretty good example of how red and purple don't look so bad if mixed properly with a blue and burgundy tone. ;)
ReplyDeleteI'll remember that when I'm crocheting my red-burgundy, blue, and 'hint of purple' mancho.
ReplyDeleteLMAO @ matt!
ReplyDeleteThat poem is a recipe for b-a-g-l-a-d-y. I guess the poet was inspired by a muttering and most likely fragrant woman on the streets somewhere, evidently hoarding pencils and beermats. Way to hitch your wagon to the crazy-star, Jenny Joseph.
ReplyDelete-Rhapsody
LOLOLOLOLOL
ReplyDeleteI hope people don't actually do this. :D
WC
There's a fine line between becoming less inhibited in later years and looking like a kook. That cover looks like, "Granny's lost it, this time! We thought the thingie on the toilet paper roll was tacky, now look at this!!!"
ReplyDeleteEll's bells, you took the words right out of my 48 year old mouth. I've already warned all of my friends that the only club I am interested in joining in 2007 is the "Any Damn Hat I Want" club.
ReplyDeleteThe POINT is that the colors don't go together. That old women can wear what they want because they are fabulous and they no longer care what people think.
ReplyDeleteI think that the concept is fabulous.
Another anonymous commenter above...why no name? If you like it, step up and like it.
ReplyDeleteLove the Red Hat Society. Almost bought this at Annie's Attic. You can make a TON off selling this stuff at fairs, markets, etc. Old ladies are gaga over it!
ReplyDeleteahahahhahahahahahaha
ReplyDeleteno.
I can tell most of the comments were submitted by under 50 gals. I'm in my 70's and love my Red Hat chapter, love my Red Hat friends. I'm married and my hubby doesn't like to get out much so I'm on my own. But not really, I'm out with my Red Hat friends. Our excursions have included cruises, horse races, casinos, Bunco parties, lunches, birthday parties, parades, to name a few. Now what do you gals do for fun????
ReplyDeleteAlthough I totally respect and admire the ladies that I know who have joined and participate, very actively, in their Red Hat Society Chapters I do have a concern about the 'cult' like quality this group CAN have. I am sure that there are plenty of chapters that aren't cult like but, I have been at restaurants where their events are held and I know ladies who are members. As I see it, this is a great basic idea that has been adopted by a few fanatics and now taken over the edge into cult status and sheer ridiculousness. The concept of accepting yourself for who you are and what you want with no regard to what others think is FABULOUS. I think we should all do that and live life for what makes us truly happy and stay 'real' to who we are. The issue I have with the society is that a simple, basic and otherwise great concept has been overly exaggerated to border on (and crossing into for some) a cult. I have been present seeing older women berated because they wore red hats but not 'enough purple' or maybe not purple at all. I had to laugh at myself when I witnessed this as the whole POINT of the poem was to stress INDIVIDUALITY and yet to be in the society you must CONFORM to their rules. It's another case of a great ideal turned bad by a few overly zealous individuals who lose sight of the real meaning of the cause to begin with. Instead of admiring many of these groups, nowadays I feel sorry for them for succombing to the exact opposite of what the poem was all about to begin with.
ReplyDeleteWell I think it's been pointed out... but I'll say it, anyway.
ReplyDeleteRed Hat Society wear is supposed to be eye-popping and ugly. The point is that older women can do whatever the hell they want, as far as fashion goes, and get away with it.
Personally, I think a better idea would be to intentionally prove that women in their golden years can be beautiful, too, rather than saying "We just don't give a damn any more."
But I'm 21, so what do I know about it? Maybe I'll feel differently when I'm 70. But I hope I don't. I hope I'll still feel capable of looking nice right up to the day I die.
Just thought you might like to know there are over 300,000 Red Hatters in the world, including us lot way down here in New Zealand.
ReplyDeleteRest assured, we are just as mad as the rest of them too!
It's a case of celebrating our age, rather than fearing it. Getting dressed up and going out to play and be silly with our girlfriends!
Forgetting all the years of responsibiity and childraising for just a little while and allowing ourselves to HAVE FUN!!!
I will just comment on the fact that the lady with the Royal Scepter looks like she'd beat your head in with it if you made fun of her red and purple splendor.
ReplyDeleteAs a member of a RH group (though I'm still a "Lady in Waiting" as they call those of us under 50) the RH Ladies have a lot of fun. Each group is what each group makes it...no two groups are the same. The individual ladies are what make each individual group across the nation what it is.
ReplyDeleteThough red and purple are not colors that necessarily "go together", when these two colors are put together, the ladies wearing them have fun. One gets used to seeing these colors together and it doesn't really look so awful as it might have initially. In all actuality, most people do not go out wearing these colors together, and therefore, when you do see them worn together, I would bet most people wonder if the woman wearing them is a RH Lady. So the colors have truly become synonamous with a movement, the Red Hat Society.
I have learned in my young 38 years that many things I initially thought were tacky and ugly at one point in my life, I have grown to like at another later point in my life. I wonder how many who joke about the RH's today will be one of them tomorrow! :) Yes, the sceptor and "royalty" seems funny and clownish but it's all in good fun. Our Queen Mother has a sceptor that was probably bought at the Dollar Store that she waves over the food at our gathering to "make the calories disappear". It's all just fun and silly and not a serious time at all.
Enjoy life! Have fun! We're here for only a moment and then we're gone.
that purple sweater on the guy just screams... KILL ME!
ReplyDeleteOh, no. If I had reached the maturity necessary to be a Red Hatter, I'd be insulted. Gotta love how nowadays it seems they'll make any crap in red and purple just to try to get some of these ladies' money. Like any intelligent person couldn't figure out how to take her favorite scarf pattern and apply the necessary colors without having to buy some book just because there's red and purple right there on the cover?
ReplyDeleteLIGHTEN UP, folks! Every time I read that poem, I think of women like Katherine Hepburn, Maya Angelou, Julia Child, Lauren Hutton, Helen Hayes, and a myriad of other women who CELEBRATE(D) their age and individuality. Those patterns aren't meant for you 20s & 30s crowd, and no wonder the scepter turns you off -- you don't have a clue as to its meaning! As someone pointed out, it's all about looking forward to the years when you can get away with thumbing your nose at society's "must-do's and not-do's" and enjoy life. I'm not a Red Hatter, but my mother is and enjoys the fun of it all. If there are chapters where members berate each other for how much of a color they are or not wearing, THOSE people just don't get it, but don't write off the Society as a whole. It's about time SOMEONE recognized that age should be CELEBRATED, not FEARED! These ladies have paid their dues; give them the respect tthey have earned, and LEAVE THEM ALONE!!! As for "not crocheting" the patterns? Of course not! You haven't earned the right! (she said, TONGUE IN CHEEK.)
ReplyDeletei just love the red hat society! besides, purple ismy favorite color.
ReplyDeletemelanie
I just picked out the color pattern for my wedding in July. And YES! It IS red and purple.
ReplyDeleteI suppose there is a good background reason for it though. I wanted a simple backyard BBQ with good food, friends and family around. My future Mother In Law, however, HIJACKED my wedding and now Im having a private little gathering of about 150 people in well known country club on Long Island, in NY.
So...In response, and mild defiance, I chose my fiance's favorite color: Purple, and mine: Red, and then coincidentally came upon the Red Hat Society online, and what it stood for, and I was sold.
PS. The Maid of honor dress is purple, the bridesmaids dresses are red...and theyre all wearing Red / purple hats.
A spoon full of sugar might help the medicine go down, but nothing can take away the bad taste in my mouth left by that Mary Poppins wannabe getup. And to further insult the fine reputation of Mary Poppins, they made it in red and purple.
ReplyDeleteIt takes courage to grow old gracefully, or at least what society says is graceful. It takes heroic status to grow old comfortably. Comfort is like beauty, all in the eyes of the beholder. How great it is to be able to get past all the inhibitions, rules and politcally correct mannerisms, and just have fun. I say Kudos to the ladies who can enjoy themselves. Life is too short to be bound up in what someone else thinks you should be wearing when you are old, and until you young'uns reach that point, you better step aside, cause us politcally incorrect, uninhibited, unruley old folks are on the rise.
ReplyDelete[...] wrote an interesting post today on Comment on Regal Red & Purple by CarolHere’s a quick [...]
ReplyDeleteThese sound like great patterns.
ReplyDelete