Staying young in red and purple

A group of ladies in Normandy are embracing the joys of growing older through the Red expHat Society.

The group of ladies “of a certain age”, meet regularly wearing red hats and dressed in purple, saying they refuse to become “grey and invisible.”

Stemming from the original Red Hat Society established 10 years ago in California, the group was inspired by a poem by Jenny Joseph which begins “When I am old I shall wear purple with a red hat which doesn't go and doesn't suit me.”

The French Chapter of the Red Hat Society in Domfront is one of only three in the country and was set up by Sue Denny (pictured), known as the ‘Queen Mother’ of the group, three years ago.

She said: “I started up this chapter when I was moving over here and wanted to make new friends.

“I discovered the Red Hat Society on a trip to New York on the QM2 and had joined as an individual member.”

Ms Denny posted a message on a local English website and had a huge response within a matter of days.

She said: “Red Hatting is all about being older but refusing to become grey and invisible.

“The whole thing is based on the famous poem by Jenny Joseph. We happen to think our red hats suit us very well and go perfectly with purple!

“Red Hatters have to be over 50 to wear the red hat, although younger ladies can join and wear a pink hat and lavender clothing until they ‘red-uate’ at 50.

“The majority of our members already qualify for the red hat, and are all British ladies who have moved to France to enjoy their retirement or to start new businesses. Most of the ladies have partners, although a few of us are singletons.”

The group currently has around two dozen members meeting around once a month.

The ‘Queen Mother’ however, would like to see more than just the three current chapters in the country.

She said: “The organisation celebrates its 10th anniversary this month. It is now a worldwide organisation with some two million members.

"We were, until recently, one of only two chapters in the whole of France with the other being in Aix-en-Provence, but last summer a lovely American Red Hatter called Marion Fleming came over to visit a friend in Villedieu-les-Poêles - about an hour north of us in Normandy - and we got together for lunch.

"She has now moved over to France and is setting up a second Normandy chapter.

"This means we can have joint events, and invite each other to attend lunches as guests.”

Ms Denny hopes the word will spread throughout France as she believes it is a great way of helping residents integrate into life in the country.

She added: “We had some publicity in the local newspaper recently and my French neighbours were very excited when they saw me.

“They had read that the 'Presidente' lived at St Front and wanted to know if that was me.

One of them said she was quite scared when she first saw us all in my garden in our hats, but another said she thought it was great fun.

“I think the French ladies are a little wary of joining us because they think we will be speaking in English, which they do not understand.

“I have told them that most of the chapter speak French better than I do and have come to France to mix with the French and get to know them better.

“I would love to see chapters springing up around France.

“I and my ladies have found it fantastic fun to get dressed up and a great way to make new friendships.”

For more information visit www.redhatsociety.com where you can also get in contact with the Domfront group.