Dear Etiquetteer:
Because conferences always seem to take place at “destinations,” I am going to have to be at a business conference aboard a Southern cruise ship this spring. I realise that Straw Hat Day isn’t until Wednesday, May 15, but considering that all regions are warming more quickly than hitherto, might I have your blessing to wear my straw Panama in place of my beloved grey fedora?
Dear Hatted:
Your comment about cruise ships and “destinations” reminded Etiquetteer of Bea Lillie’s famous question on boarding the Normandie: “When does this place get to New York?”
Cruise ships always suggest vacation clothes, especially in warmer seas, and a felt hat would be quite out of place. (Straw Hat Day is really an urban observance of the change of seasons. You may read Etiquetteer’s history of it in Volume 14.) By all means bring your panama hat, especially for shore excursions.
But on shipboard, you don’t want to have to wear your hand on top of your head all voyage, to keep your hat from blowing off. Indeed, that’s Millicent Fenwick’s principal criterion in her Vogue’s Book of Etiquette (1948): “Hats — if one wants one — that will not blow off*.” She recommends what is basically a yachting cap, “stitched white cotton or linen with a narrow brim . . . or a sword fisherman’s cap, with a long visor**.” Somewhat paradoxically, she also says “Any imitations of the classic yachting coat and cap should be avoided.***” She seems mostly to be concerned about men trying falsely to pass themselves off as yacht club members, but really . . .
Etiquetteer would suggest a jaunty snap brim or “newsboy” cap in white, natural, or dark blue linen for shipboard wear. There would be no suggestion of False Yachtiness, and much less chance it would blow off your head. But you may also go without a hat on board with no breach of Perfect Propriety.
Etiquetteer wishes you a safe and pleasant voyage!
*Page 623.
**Ibid.
***Page 624.