Red Hats and Goatskin Caps

Walking in Norfolk woods we saw a number of ladies wearing red hats and purple clothing. I’d seen similarly dressed ladies in Lowestoft drinking tea.

As I understand it… ‘The Red Hat Society’ (RHS) is an international group for women, aged 50+… they wear red hats and purple clothes to their meetings and events… founded in 1998 in the US it came to the UK in 2001… RHS women have fun, laughter, and grow old disgracefully together…

And I thought ‘RHS’ stood for Royal Horticultural Society!

They’re inspired by Jenny Joseph’s poem ‘Warning’ that starts:

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…

Robinson Crusoe didn’t have a red hat. He had ‘a great high shapeless cap made of goatskin with a flap hanging down behind.’ Alone on his desert island for some years he mused:

‘I frequently sat down to my meat with thankfulness, and admired the hand of God’s providence, which had thus spread my table in the wilderness. I learned to look more upon the bright side of my condition and less upon the dark side; and to consider what I enjoyed rather than what I wanted; and this gave me sometimes such secret comforts that I cannot express them.’

Returning to St Paul’s wisdom: ‘I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation…’

Jenny Joseph’s ‘Warning’ continues:

…And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people’s gardens
And learn to spit.

Musing… on the restrictions of age and life situations… embracing RHS companionship, Robinson Crusoe’s thankfulness, St Paul’s contentment and Jenny Joseph’s spirited determination!