Designed for Men

War or no war, Easter was at hand. Women headed for the millinery counters. Hatters were ready. In the next two weeks they expect to sell some 22,100,000 Easter bonnets—17% of all the hats women will buy in 1942.

Neither Pearl Harbor nor the grey dawn of Tax Day (see p. 15) had cast a shadow on the sale of women’s hats. This year, as in 1941, girls in school, girls in factories, wives of workers and fighters, will deck their waves with some 130,000,000 bonnets.

Feminine hats were back in style, dripping with veils and flowers. Big news, designers claimed, was that the new Easter bonnets were not designed for their usual purpose—to make other women envious. New purpose, for the first time since World War I (they said): to allure males. The hats were cheap. Over 70% of this year’s hats sell for $5 or under; more than 60% cost $2.95 or less. To U.S. women, hats were a penny-foolish expense that made the pound-wise cost of war more bearable.