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Telling the Red Hat Society story

Our 2026 press kit has what a reporter needs: who we are, how a $7.50 thrift shop hat started a movement, leadership bios, milestones and photos. Download it, or call Hatquarters to set up an interview.

Download the 2026 press kitContact the press team

PDF, 12 pages, 5.5 MB. Updated September 2026.

A pile of red hats in felt, velvet and faux fur, trimmed with purple flowers and feathers.
First chapter formed, April 25, 1998
1998
Women connected around the world
50,000+
Red Hat Society Day, celebrated by chapters worldwide
April 25
Our 30th anniversary year
2028
Cover of the Red Hat Society 2026 Press Kit. (PDF, opens in a new tab)

Download

The 2026 press kit

Twelve pages on the Society’s history, mission, leadership and milestones, with contact details for interviews.

What’s inside

  1. A welcome from our President
  2. Who we are
  3. About us
  4. Our passion: the Five F’s
  5. Fun facts
  6. The “Red Hat Revolution”
  7. Moving forward
  8. Our founder, Sue Ellen Cooper
  9. Our President, Michelle Lee
  10. Timeline, 1997 to 2025
  11. Contact details
Download press kit (PDF, 5.5 MB)Open in a new tab (opens in a new tab)

Who we are

About the Red Hat Society

Boilerplate

The Red Hat Society is a playgroup for women created to connect like-minded women, make new friends, and enrich lives through the power of fun and friendship.

We are a global society of women that supports and encourages women in their pursuit of fun, friendship, freedom, fulfillment, and fitness. Founded in 1998, the Society connects more than 50,000 women around the world. Members 50 and over wear red hats and purple; members under 50 wear pink hats and lavender.

Our passion: the Five F’s

Fun
We celebrate life at every age.
Friendship
We strengthen and expand the bonds of sisterhood.
Freedom
We discover and explore new interests.
Fulfillment
We realize our personal potential.
Fitness
We embrace healthy, life-lengthening lifestyles.
More about the Five F’s
A red felt fedora with a matching red band and bow.
The hat that started the revolution.

Our story

It started with a $7.50 red hat

In the fall of 1997, Sue Ellen Cooper paid $7.50 for an old red fedora in a Tucson thrift shop. Inspired by the poem “Warning,” she gave a friend turning “fifty-ish” a red hat of her own, as a reminder to grow older playfully, on her own terms.

Women everywhere wanted in. Word of mouth took the Society from two chapters in 1999 to tens of thousands worldwide within five years, followed by ten books, a stage musical and an episode of The Simpsons.

They simply are not done yet.

Leadership

Our founder and our President

Sue Ellen Cooper smiling in a red hat and purple outfit, wrapped in a purple feather boa.

Founder

Sue Ellen Cooper

Exalted Queen Mother

Sue Ellen Cooper earned a B.A. in English from Cal State Fullerton and worked as a freelance illustrator. In 1998, the red hat she gave a close friend for her 55th birthday grew into the Red Hat Society.

She is the author of two best-selling books, The Red Hat Society: Fun and Friendship After Fifty and Laugh Lines: Stories of Inspiration and Hattitude.

Download headshot of Sue Ellen CooperRead our story
Michelle Lee in a red feathered hat and purple satin dress, smiling with one hand on her hip

President

Michelle Lee

Known in the Red Hat world as Queen Plumerix

Michelle Lee became President of the Red Hat Society in July 2025. A business owner known professionally as “the closer” and “the fixer,” she holds a bachelor’s degree in accountancy and an MBA in finance.

Michelle is available for speaking engagements, conferences, retreats and special events.

Download headshot of Michelle LeeRead Michelle’s story

Milestones

Media moments and milestones

  1. 1997Sue Ellen Cooper buys an old red fedora in a Tucson, Arizona thrift shop.
  2. 1998The first Red Hat Society chapter forms on April 25.
  3. 2004The first RHS book, Fun and Friendship After Fifty, reaches the New York Times Best Seller list.
  4. 2005Marge Simpson joins a local Red Hat Society chapter on The Simpsons.
  5. 2006HATS! The Musical, inspired by the Society, premieres in October.
  6. 2008The Popular Culture Association and American Culture Association honor the Society with a national award.
  7. 2011The first red hat and a purple boa go on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
  8. 2014Procter & Gamble launches Always Discreet with the Society at its International Convention in San Francisco.
  9. 2023The Society celebrates its 25th anniversary, a quarter century of fun, friendship and sisterhood.
  10. 2025Michelle Lee becomes President of the Red Hat Society in July.

Photos and logos

Images for publication

Download images for coverage of the Red Hat Society. Free to use in editorial coverage of the Red Hat Society. Please credit: Red Hat Society.

Press inquiries

To schedule an interview with our President or a local member, contact Hatquarters.

Email the press team

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