Sunday 23 October 2022

Hat Chat

 

B&W Norman Parkinson Vogue magazine fashion photograph of Le Groux Sœurs Hat, 1952.
Caution: Hat idioms ahead.
Norman Parkinson, Vogue, 1952

What's not to love about a hat, Dear Reader? Why aren't our wardrobes brimming with these (ahem, sometimes) practical and stylish items any more? While I'm no brass hat on the matter, I gather the advent of the enclosed motorcar apparently signalled the demise of the once essential accessory - where a failure to be wearing one could even be a distinguishing feature on a police Wanted poster. 

Fortunate reprieve in the fashion world came from the stalwarts, the racing fraternity and royal families, who continue to cling on for dear life and where there is no space for the timid, and I tip my hat to them. Strange how it only took a couple of generations for the rest of the world to become distinctly shy about covering up the crown, while a corresponding lack of inhibition is required for the rest of the body. 

There's an even more stubborn reluctance on the young to wear a hat beyond the studied irony of the trucker variety or the bland uniform of the ubiquitous baseball cap. In times past, my own notorious high school, formed on the St Trinian's model, was once a hat-and-gloves establishment. And yet to suggest a reintroduction of the hat would be met with howls of derisive scorn, while serious chat takes place about the formation of uniform policies around permanent and outré fashion statements like tattoos. 

From the chicly sheltering to the stylish, Your Corespondent thinks they should make a comeback into everyday wear. Even in a windy city like Sydney, a reacquaintance with ye olde hat-elastic, hat-pins and -combs can keep them more or less attached. For the curious and bare-headed, try something new! You can tell the world you're flinging your hat over the windmill and forging a new trend. Even this Le Groux Sœur marvel from the 1950s couldn't fail to turn heads, even if it's just to wonder if the chic beauty got adventurous with a commercial fan before dashing out to the shoppes. 

Anyhow, enough of the forced idioms, they're getting tighter than Dick's hatband to squeeze out. This post is really a public service announcement:

There's a marvellous one-hour documentary to watch on the interweb if you are a hat person or, if not, someone who might appreciate traditional skills and the painstaking transmission of such knowledge. Or maybe just someone who enjoys seeing a thoroughly appreciated older person in action. It celebrates the life of the inspiring, nonagenarian couture milliner Marie O'Regan.

The Millinery Lesson by Mike Southon, 2021.


Image credit: via Pinterest


20 comments:

  1. I never go out without wearing a hat. Never, ever.

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    1. Keep it under your hat, dear Rachel, you are a woman after my own heart.

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  2. Me too. I wear broad hats in summer, usually from straw, to protect my forehead from sun burn. And in winter I wear smaller felt hats in case it showers a touch.

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    1. I should have added that my summer hats are very fashionable; the winter hats are more functional.

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    2. Such good reasons, dear Hels, though I wish there was a tad more of the "showers [but] a touch" around here.

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  3. Not a hat person myself - I think that my school days of wearing straw panama hats, and black winter velour hats, both embellished with a ribbon and badge showing the school colours, finally finished off my hat wearing days. If we did not wear them then we were in big trouble.
    Now I only wear a straw sunhat if out in the country on a hot sunny day or a fabric one, which I believe is called a bucket hat, kept in the rucksack just in case it does turn sunny whilst out walking.

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    1. Your school hats sound so classic, dear Rosemary. The closest the tinies get to a school hat these days is the sun-aware legionnaires variety, soft, big-brimmed with the hankie down the back. The opposite of classic. The bucket hat is a handy rabbit to pull out of a rucksack. Very uncomplaining.

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  4. I life hats but, as you said, feel rather shy about wearing one. But I always have one on my head at the beach. Otherwise I'd go home with a stinking migraine.

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    1. Oh, yes, dear Loree, absolutely essential at the beach.

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  5. Replies
    1. Uff, the above was thought to be a seanish comment.

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    2. Ha! I did guess it was you, dear Sean. I'm not just a hat rack :)

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  6. There used to be a British hat maker called 'Attaboy' (I think), and their slogan was 'If you want to get ahead, get a hat'.

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    1. I love this, dear Cro! So much fun to be had when you toss the hat chat around.

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  7. Dear Pip, I adore hats - and I wear them.
    The 8 years I lived in Hamburg (same climate as London) were a bit trying (wind and rain), especially for my huge hats. In Berlin you seldom see hats - too elegant for this city. But there I got the biggest compliment about a huge fur hat (bought at Max Mara - and the shop assistant whispered: "Beautiful - though I would not dare to wear it...") A group of Punks, sitting at the front tunnel too the subway, looked up, being very fanciful clad themselves, checked my hat (and I was a bit afraid they might say something about the fur) and then one exclaimed: "Wow!! That hat is top!" (well, he said it in Berlin slang ).

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    1. As well they might have admired your hat, dear Britta! Punks cannot fail to raise a hat to anyone paying stylish attention to adorning their head, for don't they do so? Wind and rain - yes, I feel for you.

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  8. On my bucket list is to own or at least wear a proper Top hat. Next monday I get to wear my viking helmet in public without being arrested.

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    1. And to any challengers, dear Urspo, I'm sure you'll have a witty retort ready at the drop of hat. And a top hat is a stylish goal.

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  9. First of all I'm so sorry that I've missed a couple of your posts Pip ..... I kept looking thinking you hadn't posted but I'd forgotten to refresh the page ....d'oh !!!! Right, now, I LOVE a hat and don't wear them enough. There are many photographs of the early 1900's and a bit before where every single person is wearing a hat ! .... every single one ! A couple of photographs taken from above show it even better. I guess things have to change ..... men don't go around like Beau Brummell anymore { well, most don't ! } but, it's a shame that the wearing of hats disappeared { and baseball caps don't count ! } I'm sue it will make a comeback but, maybe not like it was. XXXX

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    1. Do not apologise, dear Jackie, it's all very fits-&-starts-ish around here and anyways you've rather better things to be doing, I imagine, wearing your hat du jour ... a hard hat, if I may be so bold?! I'm with you that baseball hats don't count and the absence of Beau Brummell's around & about is a tale of woe for another time. It's heading into race season here and drooping, wobbling fascinators will be seen on lurching ladies in the after-party bars - also not my thing - but at least there's still something like a finished ensemble to look at. Although, regretfully, the shoes will oftentimes be in the hand not on the foot, hahah! xx

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