[HPFGU-OTChatter] Dudley's Hat

[Pam Hugonnet]

Amber wrote:

>
> Okay, I've got a gripe. I was looking at the loverly pictures from AOL
>
> on the leaky cauldron site and the one with Dudley, Vernon, and
> Petunia
> is bugging me. You can find it here:
>
> http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/
> (Scroll down a bit to the pictures...if you can't see the one with the
>
> Dursleys, right click on the broken picture and select 'Show Picture')
>
> What is up with that hat that Dudley is wearing? Not that it isn't a
> nice hat, it just seems very odd and out of place to me. A bit too
> old-fashioned and Sunday-best maybe? It just really jarred me for some
>
> strange reason.
>
> *Is* Dudley supposed to be wearing a hat in the first letter scene?
> Can't quite remember, and I'm at work right now. Even if he is, I
> don't
> think I would've put him in that! Or does everyone in England wear
> hats
> like that and I'm just displaying my horrendous ignorance?

    If you look closely I believe that is his Smetings uniforms:
            "Smeltings' boys wore marron tailcoats, orange
knickerbockers and flat
              straw hats called boaters.  They also carried knobbly
sticks, used for
              hitting each other when teachers weren't looking.  This
was supposed to
              be good training for later life."
                                                            HP/SS
(paperback, p.32)

Looks like they got it dead on.  When the first letter arrives, Dudley
has his Smeltings' stick with him at the breakfast table.  I suppose his
having the uniform on represents some compression of scenes for the sake
of the movie.

drpam


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