I N V 0 G U E
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The suit: powerful usurper of the hat's social tradition
It used to be when a
woman had to make
an impression, she
made it with a hat.
Usually with a half
veil or discreet phea
sant feather, a hat was
more than a final touch. It was a sym
bol of dignity and an accessory of self
respect. When a woman wore one, she
telegraphed to the world that she was,
in fact, a part of it. She was going
“out.”
When my grandmother left the
house, she never went without a hat.
My mother wore them too. One of her
hats, a ’508-rendition cloche with a lit
tle net of a veil, flew out of the car
window during a family vacation. All
of our necks turned like cranes' as we
watched the bird-like object whip and
tumble over the highway. As it was,
my father was driving at a phenomenal
speed to catch a train that we were pro
bably going to miss anyway. My
mother insisted that wfe turn around to
rescue the hat. She was frantic. Thafls
how important hats were in those
times.
Now the suit has usurped the hat. If
impressions must be made in the
ruthless unknown, they are best made
in a suit. A suit is easily compared to
armor, a uniform and a strait jacket. But
these days, few of enterprising right
mind dare convince, cajole or conquer
without one.
“You have to have one,” a friend of
mine comforted me when we turned up
for the same interview. “You won’t get
past the first cut.” She patted my knee
and strode off to her next appointment.
As much as I resisted the idea of
such loathsome conformity, I figured
she knew more about this kind of thing
than I. So I immediately went out and
bought a suit. The saleswoman showed
me how to carry the 100 percent gabar
dine wool jacket on my arm with some
degree of insouciance to my next inter
view. which happened to be on July 27
— when the temperature was hovering
around 84 degrees Farenheit.
Actually 1 was very pleased by the
navy blue suit with the ’30s-style skirt,
and instead of hiding the shopping bag
from my husband in my usual manner,
1 said, “I bought a suit. I’ll model it for
you.”
He looked at it, was duly impressed,
saw the price tag, and yelled out the
window, “My wife is sending us to the
poor house.” Of course he was just kid
ding because I have a reputation for
spending a large share of the discre
tionary income on clothes. But the suit
was no frivolous purchase, I argued
calmly. It was an investment. It had the
potential to secure the first fragile years
out of graduate school.
As the summer turned into fall, I
worried for awhile about the suit not
paying off and going out of style at the
same time. I assuaged myself somewhat
by itemizing it in the tax deduction
log. I kept it cleaned and pressed, and
whenever an important appointment
arose, I wore the suit. I always made
the first cut, just as my now-employed
friend had reassured me.
One day I became discouraged about
not getting beyond the first cut.
Another friend, an activist, pepped me
up and told me 1 was still on the right
track with the suit. “It’s empowering,”
she said ardently. That made me feel
better; I had less guilt when my suit
was associated with new-politics
jargon.
Then one day I wore the suit to an
interview with the jacket on, not over
my arm. At the end of five grueling
hours, the jacket was off, making me
look like a wearied politician with a
loosened tie. At that moment, I was not
convinced that I’d bagged the job, but
if I had, I reasoned, it might have been
the gaberdine suit that pushed me over
the edge.
I was sure, however, that I had made
an impression.
As a matter of fact, I did get the job.
Angela Allen Morgan
Next month Angela Allen Morgan, the
1083-84 Friday Edition editor, will head
north for a copy-editing job in the
Portland area. We re certain the new posi
tion will suit her well.
Calendar
Continued from Page 6B
Lama Sonam teaching from the
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Originally Tilled "Spirit oI the Wind"
342 6S36 \
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