Not long ago, at a concert or something like that, Margaret Myers of Gilroy caught sight of a big group of women dressed in purple and wearing red hats, each more outlandish than the next, with feathers and flowers and ribbons and bows.
“And I was like, ‘What is that all about?’” she recalled.
Now she’s one of them.
Them, is the Red Hat Society ®.
It’s a women’s organization that since its accidental start in 1999 in Arizona has blossomed into an international movement with 50,000 members in thousands of chapters in 30 countries, including two in Gilroy.
All are dedicated to the proposition that, to paraphrase Cyndi Lauper’s 1983 pop classic about girls, women just want to have fun.
They bill themselves as a “playgroup for women created to connect like-minded women, make new friends and enrich lives through the power of fun and friendship!” according to their official website at redhatsociety.com.
“We’re a sisterhood, we look out for each other,” said Debby Mullins, “Queen” of Gilroy’s Duchesses of Roses chapter.
She belonged in Fresno but when she moved to Gilroy found the existing chapter, The Stinking Red Roses, had grown so large it was closed to new members.
So knowing the power and the fun of the sisterhood of the Red Hatters, Mullins and real sisters Margaret Myers and Pauline Depew started their own Gilroy chapter, now headed toward 20 members.
“It’s a lot of fun,” said Myers. “It allows you to kind of go outside your box, make yourself bigger than life, to put on the bling—it allows you to be a little bit different,” she said.
“It’s to make wonderful, lasting friends,” said Kay Svardal, Queen of Gilroy’s original chapter, membership, 45.
“The gals who are joining are looking to make friends, for activities, it gets them out and about,” she said.
“We are serious about having fun,” said Debra Granich, the organization’s CEO and “Queen Lady Bug.”
She also is one of six owners in a family-run company that she says operates more as a nonprofit because money from $20 per year membership dues—$39 for Queens—goes back into the operation.
The camaraderie and friendships fostered by the groups have pulled woman out of suicidal depression, helped others lose weight and lower blood pressure, she said, gives them a purpose and keeps them active and vital.
“We let the world know that, as boomer women, we make a very vital contribution to the county; we purchase a lot and we are valuable to market to,” she said.
Women over 50 don’t want to be seen as being all about menopause and Depends, she said, the RHS shows them it’s all about “enjoying the ride.”
That has different meaning for different chapters. Some like dining out, some go to movies or live performances and others take trips, including conventions from coast to coast.
Members younger than 50 are allowed, but they must wear pink and lavender.
That prestige combo is meant to be silly, since red and purple don’t really go together; it’s the hilarious mismatch that helps create the atmosphere for fun and games and letting go.
Word games and word play are part of the magic of the group’s tickly allure, too, members say.
They don’t have a headquarters in Fullerton, California, it’s called a Hatquarters; chapter heads are Queens, members are called sisters, clothing is regalia and consultants, as Granich was early on, are called insultants.
“We are reshaping the way women are viewed in today’s culture by promoting, not only fun and friendship, but freedom from stereotypes and fulfilment of goals and dreams,” the RHS website reads.
The group began in 1997 when Founder and Exalted Queen Mother Sue Ellen Cooper wanted to encourage a friend nearing 50 to grow older in a playful way, the RHS website says, so she bought her a red hat.
The idea was inspired by the poem, “Warning,” which begins, “When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple, with a red hat which doesn’t go and doesn’t suit me.”
It caught on, the RHS was born and, “No longer would maturing women be invisible to society. They simply are not done yet,” the website reads.
And of course, the Queen has her court of sorts. Myers is Vise-Queen and her sister, Pauline Depew is Royal Scribe.
In Svardal’s chapter, whomever hosts events gets to be Queen for the day.
“When you go out and about in a red hat, all dressed up, you bring attention to yourself for sure, and it’s always very positive,” Myers said. “Some ladies they go all out.”
The close friendships women develop show themselves when members are sick or need someone to take them to the doctor or visit in the hospital, all caring actions that further cement the bonds of womanhood as the clock of age keeps ticking, members say.
It was age, in fact, what got it all started in 1998 when founder Sue Ellen Cooper bought a silly red hat to wear at her 50th birthday lunch. Friends were amused and she gave each their own red hat and it caught on—and on and on all over the world.
“It’s a time for girlfriend time,” is how Granich explained it. “As much as we love our men, we act differently when men are around, it’s our time to network,” she said, to let women of every background know that no matter their size or age, they are beautiful.
“Red Hatters Matter,” she said, calling it the group’s motto.
So, just where do they find all the red and purple and pink and lavender?
Actually, in addition the RHS website and second hand stores, a place in Pacific Grove called Royal Spendor sells tons of it.
“That’s all they carry,” Myers said.
It’s owned by a trio of Red Hatters.
