From Abc · · 2m
Red Hat rebels refuse to age quietly
Australian women over 50 join a worldwide social club that celebrates fun, friendship and deliberately eye-catching outfits.
In brief
Australian women over 50 join a worldwide social club that celebrates fun, friendship and deliberately eye-catching outfits. The Red Hat Society, which started in the US in 1998, now has 370 Australian chapters where women over 50 adopt royal alter-egos and prioritise fun and friendship over convention. Originally…
A worldwide club with royal names
To join any of the 370 Aussie Red Hatter chapters across Australia you must be a woman over 50 with a flair for dressing up, an instinct for fun, and a royal name.
From a 1961 poem to global movement
The Red Hat Society started in the US in 1998 and quickly spread to more than 30 countries as thousands of women celebrated a social club prioritising fun and friendship.
What the society stands for
Anne Darling, aka Lady Darling Buds of May, a founding member of South Wollongong's Ruby Ragers, says the group connects, supports and encourages women in their pursuit of fun, friendship, freedom, fulfilment and fitness.
“We are a worldwide group of ladies, and it's purely a social group that connects, supports and encourages women in their pursuit of fun, friendship, freedom, fulfilment and fitness.”
Australia's own 25-year history
The Australian Red Hatters are not affiliated with the US society but have taken the idea and run with it for probably 25 years, says Anne Darling.
“The Red Hat Society started in America in 1998 and the Australian group have the same name, but we aren't affiliated with them.”
The poem that started it all
A 1961 poem by English poet Jenny Joseph titled Warning inspired the society. Joseph wrote of wanting to do things she could never do when older, like wear clothes that did not match.
Refusing to age quietly
Michelle Johnsson, Queen Desiderata from Brisbane Western Suburbs, says the theme of Red Hatters is that they are not going to get grey hair and do it quietly.
“Little old ladies with grey hair, they get overlooked quite a bit, and that's the theme of the Red Hatters, that we're not going to get grey hair and do it quietly.”
How alter-egos build confidence
Deborah Ricketts, Queen of South Wollongong's Ruby Ragers, says wearing the outfit gives you confidence to go beyond what you would normally do yourself.
“I think wearing this outfit gives you the confidence to go beyond what you would normally do yourself.”
What they actually do together
The Ruby Ragers, a group of 50 ladies founded in 2012, have op-shop subgroups, reading groups, coffee groups, card players and a dance troupe that has been dancing together for 18 years.
A convention celebrating fun and flowers
The Queensland Girlfriends Giggle 2026, the sixteenth convention for Aussie Red Hatters, has 328 ladies registered from across Australia with a theme of fun and flowers.
The one thing
The Red Hat Society, which started in the US in 1998, now has 370 Australian chapters where women over 50 adopt royal alter-egos and prioritise fun and friendship over convention.
