My grandmother wore hats---not the fantastic confections that reside on the heads of female royalty, but small, close-fitting cloches that fit her petite frame. These hats lived in round boxes at the top of her closet, and were worn on all special occasions including church every Sunday. Buying these hats was a ceremony that I attended every once in a while. My grandmother, the purchaser, would be seated at a small table with a mirror attached to it. The sales person would reverently bring box after box to this table, where my grandmother would try on each hat, turning her head this way and that to gauge the fit and style. Some hats would be rejected out of hand while others remained in the boxes surrounding her table while she gave them a second try. Once selected, the chosen merchandize was taken home to be placed on the hat shelf in her closet only after it was modeled for my grandfather's approval. As far as I know he never said anything but, "That looks very nice on you," before returning to his newspaper.
I experienced a short period of hatdom in 1965 when my husband joined the Marine Corps. I remember wearing a gray number, bought at a discount store, to a couple of parades and one wedding before my hat-wearing career came to an abrupt end, swept away unmissed in the disruptions of the sixties.
But what about pedicures? This was a completely foreign idea, not only to my grandmother, but to me as well until I was well into my fifties. If asked about the word I would have known it had something to do with feet, one of the uses of two years of Latin in high school. But I would not have known to what it referred until my daughters introduced me to what has become a very treasured indulgence.
Does the progress of civilization rest on either hats or pedicures? Of course not. They are just generational activities, things that come and go with the tides of time. But I do have one pressing question. Because royalty still wears hats, are they allowed to have pedicures or must they give up the tulle and fake flowers before someone can take care of their toes?
I doubt it. That may be the true meaning of royalty --- one can have hats AND pedicures.