A Piece of Magic is a Hat

I love hats. I love wearing them, I love when other people wear them, I love decorating them, I love shopping for them. I love looking back at the hats of other eras, and I love modern hats. But it makes me sad that not many people share my love for hats these days – or at least, not many people wear hats these days. The problem seems to be that many people aren’t sure when a hat is appropriate, what type of hat is appropriate at an event, and where to even buy a hat!

 I’d like to help bring back the hat with this handy guide for when it is appropriate to wear a hat, and what type of hat is most appropriate for a given occasion, and links to where to purchase a variety of types (and prices) of hats.

If you’re looking for a basic, practical hat to wear to the beach, gardening, or a backyard barbeque, a sun hat is the kind for you. A sun hat is a practical way to both keep your skin protected from the sun and keep cool. A sun hat should have a large brim, and should be of a relatively lightweight, breathable fabric or woven straw. A sunhat can be quite plain, decorated with only a simple hatband or occasionally a bow, or can be a bit more decorative, made from colorful straw or fabric or adding a small bow or pretty ribbon.

Here are a few examples of practical sunhats and where to find them:

 Crescent Beach Sun Hat from LL Bean, $29.95

 

 Ombre Straw Sun Hat from J. Crew, $34.50

 

 Ribbon Sun Hat from REI, $24.50

If you’d like something a bit dressier, but still practical for keeping the sun off, try a garden party hat: medium- to large-brimmed, but more elaborate or more decorated than a sun hat – in other words, it’s the more fashion-forward version of a sun hat. Both straw and fabric hats are appropriate.

 Ivy from Salmagundi Hats, $128

 Luxury Divas Hat with Big Flower from Walmart, $25.99

 

 New Lynda’s Church Hat from MensUSA, $65

The lavender hat above is lightweight and has a wide enough brim to keep off the sun, making it practical, but the elegant shape and satin flower also make it appropriate to wear for a slightly more formal occasion, say, an outdoor wedding or an Easter church service. Here are a few other hats that can be worn for dressier occasions. Keep in mind that if you’re at an event where guests will be seated, your hat should not be overly large, to avoid blocking the view of guests behind you. 

 Mr. Hi Straw Church Hat from Divine Fashion, $43

 Scala Ivory and Red Sinamy Hat from Bluefly, $17.99

Another nice option for any event when your hat needs to be kept to a minimum is a fascinator. A fascinator has a small base attached to a headband, pinned to the hair, or held on with an elastic, and can range in style and size from small and dainty to elaborate and ornate. Fascinators surged in popularity after Prince William’s wedding to Kate Middleton, but they’ve been around for decades. They’re easy enough to make yourself if you’re creative and have access to a glue gun (or a stapler), but if you prefer to get one pre-made, here are a few lovely options.  

 Fabulous Floral Fascinator Headband from Nordstrom, $38

 

 Tilt the End of Time Fascinator from Modcloth, $39.99

 August Hats Begonia Fascinator from Macys, $34.99

Are these fascinators too simple and delicate for you? Are you dying to REALLY make a statement with your hat? Then here are the heavy-hitters of the ladies’ hat world: the Kentucky Derby hats. Now, Kentucky Derby hats do, in fact, include more traditional (and demure) styles such as church hats and fascinators. But the queens of the Derby Hats are the giant, elaborate statement hats. Hats like these (note: when you look at some of the prices, remind yourself that it’s not just a hat, it’s an investment):

 Organza Derby Hat with Ruffles from Greatlookz, $32.99

 Sinamay Hat Black-Ivory from Fit Rite Fashions, $100

 Dahlia from Salmagundi Hats, $128

 Buttercup from Salmagundi Hats, $208

And if you’d prefer to make a statement with style rather than size, how about a lovely vintage-inspired hat, perhaps one of these?

 Pure Edith Hat from ModCloth, $44.99

 Feather & Veil Pillbox Hat from Village Hat Shop, $40

 Large Bow Wool Cloche from Dahlia, $29.95

 Elegant Bowknot Wool Felt Hat with Veil from Choies, $25.99

 Satin Pillbox Hat with Veil from Overstock, $38.99

Still not convinced of the wonderful role hats could have in your life? Here are a few more thoughts on hats from some people who are wiser (or at least more famous) than I.

“You can put it on and say, "Hey you, person without a hat! I've got something you don't! How did I get it? Probably by being worth more to society.” (Alice LeGrow)

“Wearing a hat is like having a baby or a puppy; everyone stops to coo and talk about it.” (Louise Green)

“A hat is a flag, a shield, a bit of armor, and the badge of femininity. A hat is the difference between wearing clothes and wearing a costume; it’s the difference between being dressed and being dressed up; it’s the difference between looking adequate and looking your best. A hat is to be stylish in, to glow under, to flirt beneath, to make all others seem jealous over, and to make all men feel masculine about. A piece of magic is a hat.” (Martha Sliter)

“...For when a woman puts on a hat, A transformation oft takes place: Self-confidence and self-respect, Show in the lady's face. She accents her femininity; She stands tall, with shoulders back; Even when her derriere, Is clothed in jeans or slacks. I think tomorrow is a say-something-hat day.”  (Vida Boheme)
 

Here’s my “say-something hat.” Where’s yours?

The Art of Making Art

I don’t consider myself to be a particularly artistic person. I can’t draw a straight line to save my life; my attempts at a self-portrait are barely recognizable as human, never mind as myself; and the only thing I’d ever be able to sculpt from a lump of clay would be, well, a lump of clay. I do, however, consider myself to be creative. And there are two places where I consider myself most creative: at the stove and at the sewing machine.

Although I generally like projects that require precision, I dislike the need for perfect accuracy in baking, so my kitchen exploits have always leaned more toward cooking than baking. Baking involves chemical reactions and balanced equations, and a bit too much of this or not quite enough of that changes not just the taste but the texture, and indeed the entire composition. You can’t just “play with” the amount of baking soda or salt or butter in a pastry recipe and come out with a good result.

Cooking, in contrast, allows the chef a huge amount of creative freedom. Recipe calls for shallots but you don’t have any? Throw in some onions, maybe some scallions, whatever you happen to have on hand that sounds good. Like it spicy? Go ahead, double the Tabasco. Got a more delicate palate? Scant that tablespoon of chili powder. Leave out what’s not to your taste, add things that aren’t called for but that sound interesting, test and taste and fiddle and create.

My favorite cooking category for creativity is soup. I rarely use a recipe for soup. I pretty much start with a basic idea, perhaps “chicken soup” or “bean soup,” so I pour some chicken or beef broth into a pot and start adding whatever I have on hand that sounds good. Some vegetables, some meat, some pasta, some herbs. The problem is that I usually keep thinking of more and more good things to add, and although the final result is invariably delicious, there also tends to be a lot more of it than I intended by the time I’m done.

This weekend I discovered that making a hat is very much like making soup: You start with a general idea, but then you look around you and keep finding wonderful additions, and you end up with a delicious concoction but one that is quite different – and significantly more voluminous – than your initial idea.

The reason I was making a hat is that my husband and I were attending a Kentucky Derby party. We had attended the party last year, and it included a competition for the best hat. My hat had been one of the winners. 

That particular hat was intended to be tall, voluminous, and bold. I knew I would have a tough time outdoing myself in terms of sheer size, so I decided to take a totally different direction and make a funky but petite fascinator. I poked around my sewing table and came up with a piece of fake leather that I had bought to make a grill cover that I could use for a base. A few more minutes of poking unearthed some lime green chiffon left over from a Tinkerbell costume I had made for my daughter a few years ago. I made a couple of small chiffon florets and stitched them to the base, but although the color was striking, the overall effect was a bit dull. So I dug out a few fancy buttons I had cut off an old, worn-out dress and added them to the flower centers. Better, but still too two-dimensional. I needed a bit of architectural structure. Perhaps some brightly colored pipe cleaners? A quick forage through my kids’ art drawer yielded only brown pipe cleaners, and once curled they didn’t have the height or visual interest I had in mind. One brief Google search and one trip to the recycling bin later and I was cutting an empty water bottle into a spiral, covering it with ruched fabric, twisting it into a funky coil, and stapling it on.

My creation was beginning to earn the name of “fascinator,” but it wasn’t quite done yet. It needed some kind of backdrop behind the plastic coil, so I dug back through my fabric bag, coming up with some bits of green and white tulle. I zipped them through the sewing machine, stapled them on, and surveyed my work. It was coming together, but something was still lacking: color. The fabric was bright and eye-catching, but it needed some contrast. I had learned many years ago in a theatrical costuming class about a concept called a “poison color.” A poison color is a small splash of contrasting, even clashing, color that sets off everything around it. A bright blue dress might have a vivid orange sash as its poison color; a pale pink shawl could be held in place with a deep emerald brooch. I needed a solid contrast to my acid green. Yet another trip to my craft drawers unearthed one of the red roses that had graced last year’s hat – perfect for the Run for the Roses! And right alongside it were a few black and white feathers from last year. In for a penny, in for a pound – three or four staples later, and I had my poison. My petite, graceful, feminine, delicate fascinator was complete!

Well, okay, it was neither petite nor delicate. But it was graceful and feminine. And cool. And much like my results when I make soup, it was unlike anything I have ever made before, and I don’t think I could recreate it if I tried. But it was wonderful in its uniqueness. And in its creativity. I suppose, if you were feeling generous, you could even call it art.

Does Anyone Still Wear a Hat?

My husband and I love dressing up. And Easter is an ideal time for dressing up, especially if you like coordinated family outfits. And especially if you love hats. I do love hats, but unless you’re unusually fashion-forward or unusually good-looking, the only occasions when you can get away with wearing a hat are Easter and the Kentucky Derby. So this year, my daughter and I wore our Easter bonnets to church.

Our congregation includes a number of older ladies who are always stylishly dressed, so I was quite surprised (and a bit saddened) to find that the two of us were the only ladies at church on Easter Sunday who were wearing hats. I had been looking forward to admiring some lovely Easter hats!

When I was a little girl, the excitement of Easter was not just the promise of candy left by the Easter bunny, but of a whole new outfit that included a dress, white shoes, white gloves, a white purse, and a hat. I always felt so grown up and elegant in my outfit, mainly because of the hat and gloves.

Another early hat memory is also from my church. I was raised in a large Baptist church in a city with a number of other Baptist churches, and once a year all the Baptist congregations would have a combined service at our church, since we had the biggest sanctuary. It was always a fascinating service for me, since it was so different from our usual Sunday service. My church was quite conservative and sedate, a style that I would learn in college to refer to as “back-seat Baptists.” No-one ever sat in the pews closest to the pulpit, the pastor never said things like, “Can I get an ‘Amen’?”, the choir sang arrangements of 100-year-old hymns, there were no instruments other than the organ and occasionally the piano, and no-one ever stood up or raised their arms or said anything from the pew other than a polite murmured, “Good morning,” in response to the pastor’s greeting. But when Calvary Baptist joined us, the church service was a whole different animal. Calvary was a Southern Baptist, mainly African-American congregation, and they ROCKED. There was clapping. There was a constant chorus of “Amen!” and “Hallelujah!” and “Praise Jesus!” and “Preach it, brother!” – even while the pastor was talking. ESPECIALLY when the pastor was talking. There were raised arms and people stepping out of the pew. And if the pastor asked a question and you didn’t answer it loud enough, he would ask it again and again until he got a loud enough response. To a small child, it was fascinating and intimidating all at once. But the best part of all was the hats.

The Calvary ladies would not have dreamed of going to church without a hat. It was as unthinkable as showing up in your underwear. Or even worse, PANTS. I loved to look at the ladies in their beautiful jewel-colored suits and their magnificent hats. To my small-town eyes, they looked like flock of beautiful, exotic birds.

 

 

 

My simple, white garden hat adorned with a single pink flower doesn’t even attempt to match the striking stylishness of the hats of my childhood. But I will continue to dip my toe in the pool of millinery in the hopes that others will join me in attempting to bring back the hat. Derby Day is coming, and maybe I’ll be brave enough to wear something closer to the church ladies’ hats of my memory. Maybe something like this?

 

Hmmm, I think I might not be ready for that one quite yet.