Playing dress up grows up

By Julia Boyle
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

Donning dashing red hats and purple ensembles, women 50 and older all over the world prove they’re never too old to play dress up and have tea parties.

With only one responsibility— to have fun—the Red Hat Society empowers women to let loose and let go of the way society views their age group.

“Everyone has a fancy name, we dress in red hats and purple outfits, and it’s just supposed to be fun,” says Julie Creed, queen mother of one Pompton Plains Red Hat Society: the Cedar Crest Chicks.

Fondly dis-organized
Inspired by “Warning,” a poem by Jenny Joseph which depicts an older woman wearing a red hat and purple clothing, Sue Ellen Cooper of Fullerton, Ca. informally founded the first Red Hat Society with 18 of her friends. According to the society’s official website, www.redhatsociety.com, the phenomenon spread and is now often referred to as the greatest women’s “dis-organization.”

“There are no rules and regulations in Red Hats, so you basically just do what you want,” says Mary Ann Cuoco, queen mother of a Red Hat Society at Seabrook in Tinton Falls, Cedar Crest’s sister community.

Like most Red Hat groups, the Cedar Crest Chicks gather for monthly “get-togethers” of cruises, lunch, high tea, or shopping. Creed says it’s all about enjoying the camaraderie of people they might not meet in their everyday routine. “We just go out and have fun wearing outrageous red hats and purple outfits,” she says.

Outrageous outings
Located just 26 miles from Manhattan, Cedar Crest’s Red Hat Society has myriad choices for their lighthearted get-togethers. Whether they’re cruising along the Hudson or sipping tea at an elegant Victorian tea room, these glammedup ladies cause quite a stir wherever they go.

This month, the Cedar Crest Chicks travel to Peddler’s Village in New Hope, Pa., a haven of colonial houses and gardens as well as unique shopping and dining in Bucks County.