Half-Change at Eton

Their shiny top hats have long served underpocketed Etonians as handy repositories for extra pencils, copypaper and sweets. Though never compulsory for all occasions (boys watching sports events on Eton's playing field may wear "half-change," consisting of a cap and informal suit), the topper has been for over a century the distinctive badge of the Eton scholar. Last week it was temporarily--but indefinitely--consigned to limbo.

Owing to the regrettable shortage of top hats in present-day Britain, Headmaster Claude Elliott wrote parents that they will no longer be required headgear at Eton as of Sept. 1. When things get back to normal, he assured them, toppers will return.

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