text: what is the red hat society? i see these ladies in purple with red hats. what does it symbolize?   here's part of the poem which inspired ladies to meet for tea and wear red hats.  warning by jenny jacobs  when i am an old woman i shall wear purple with a red hat which doesn't go and doesn't suit me. and i shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves and satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter. i shall sit down on the pavement when i'm tired and gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells and run my stick along the public railings and make up for the sobriety of my youth. ========================================== but maybe i ought to practice a little now? so people who know me are not too shocked and surprised when suddenly i am old, and start to wear purple.