If You Want to Get Ahead, Get a Hat!
Ever had a bad hair day? Taken hours to fix a bad ‘do’? Or had to suffer the sheer ignomy of leaving the house looking less than your polished ideal? I know just how you feel.
With thick, unruly hair my daily fight with brushes, creams, dryers and straighteners usually results in me slinking away from the mirror having once again lost the battle with Mother Nature. So you will understand if I am just a little thrilled to have discovered the joys of the hat! It’s the New Year – and I’ve got a new look!
Worn daily by our ancestors as recently as the start of the 20th century, hats have slowly fallen out of everyday use until we have all but abandoned them to Mothers-of the-Bride, wannabe rap stars, or the slightly mad. Have you ever flirted from beneath the lowered brim of a Fedora? Formed passionate debate in a beret? Tipped your brim to a lady? I thought not. And it’s not through lack of wanting; it’s just that we no longer know what to do. Let’s reclaim the humble hat!
Old-fashioned & romantic it may seem, but hat-wearing is highly visible in the media with plenty of contemporary role-models from which to choose. Brad Pitt and David Beckham are both big hat-wearers and usually pull off their looks to perfection. Britney Spears is often seen in a hat but, like the rest of her life, the results are somewhat unpredictable. Zara Philips & Kelly Osbourne both work a hat well, although in completely different personal styles. If our hat-wearing heroes & heroines have worked out the basic principles of dressing the head (with just a little help from their stylists), there’s hope for us mere mortals yet.
Milliners will tell you that anyone can wear a hat, but unfortunately it’s just not true. Some people should avoid hats, just as some should avoid skinny jeans or polo necks, but these people are few. And although many of us believe we look bad in hats, there are some simple tips that will increase your chances of making your hat a hit.
Of course, there’s more to hat-wearing than following rules, or copying your favourite celebrity. A certain confidence in the wearer can really make an outfit (when does it not?), and wearing a hat can be the very thing that breeds that ‘certain confidence’. It’s all rather chicken and egg. And as hats draw attention to the wearer, he or she had better be feeling pretty darned good about themselves. Choose the right hat, and you can be sure you will.
My hat of choice is a vintage brown velour beret - a steal at 3€ from Saturday’s El Vergel rastro. As a result I am currently working the ‘International Woman of Mystery’ and the ‘I Shall Say Zis Only Once’ looks, having great fun and – mums will love this – keeping toasty warm!
When they see you in a hat, people will assume you are way more stylish than them. If you’ve chosen your hat right, those people will be correct.
See you next time around for my Top Tips for a Hot Hat.
