1 week Ago By Susan L. Serbin
May I direct you to the columnist’s small photo? The beret was not for effect. It’s one of my signature looks. I’ve written about shoes.
Only fair to go from head to toe, even backwards. This is about hats. First, a quick disclosure.
I’ve excluded the ubiquitous ball cap as it does not represent the spirit of originality that interests me. My life with hats started as a child whose grandmother was a milliner. Custom-made hats for my mom and me came naturally and often.
I was now into a life-long hat-wearing habit. I also shared my mom’s thinning hair issue and have since added my dermatologist’s insistence on shading my face. Fortunately, I was happy to embrace hats as a solution to both situations.
There are other reasons I love hats. People notice them, frequently commenting that they are cool, and I look good in them with my hat face and head. These same flatterers often say, “I can’t wear a hat.
” Well, if you have a head, you can wear a hat. Many women will wear hats in sun, rain and cold but shy away from other kinds, unless for weddings and horse races. A hat is an accessory, but more prominent than a scarf or jewelry.
People look at your face, and the hat is, ergo, attached. Hats often come into vogue when sported by a celebrity or on a fashion site. But liking the look is different than actually wearing an unusual or bold style.
I can’t stress enough: it all depends on confidence, Berets are my mainstay, either wool or cotton, lots of black and a few colors. I attach a pin for added individuality. I’m starting to wear slouches (floppier berets) which I’ve bought or knit.
Summer straws are bigger, more elaborate and have an oomph factor. I’ll experiment with styles like newsboys or the English flat caps. Remember, a hat must feel right as well as look right.
A couple of other hat-wearing observations include a weird sense of protection or security with your head-covered. And it’s true that body warmth escapes through your head! Now I’m going to tip my hat to African-American women. I don’t know enough social history as to why, when or how hats became a predominant fashion item in the culture.
Clearly these women have that wonderful confidence I mentioned. It’s a great delight to see their church-going or holiday-occasion chapeaux. Lastly, there is the matter of men and hats.
I sometimes notice my hat will catch the eye of a gentleman. But the intrigue with men in hats works both ways. This might be recalling my dad and grandfather always wearing a hat — talking 1950s! Hats are frequently memorable costuming in films.
“Raiders” anyone? Many well known celebrities use hats as a trademark. But a man in a non-ball-cap is still a rare sight. I confess, I’m very likely to check out the wearer of a Stetson or Fedora.
Few men are comfortable in a real hat, not knowing what kind or how to wear it. Recently the Financial Times ran an article titled “Men’s hats? They can be done.” It featured several (super cool) men of different ages and occupations who have made hats their signature.
The article returned several times to the idea of confidence in pulling off the look. Whether referring to men or women, I like the closing remark: “If you are going to wear a hat, you have to wear the one you want to wear. You can’t care what anyone else thinks.
” To that I’ll toss my beret and yell CHEERS!.
