Millinery: Five Hats in One Day: Finish

Making hats is a lot of fun; but hats need to be worn to fulfill their purpose.
As one person observed, the best tip about how to wear a hat is quite simple:

First, you just have to wear them.

So here I am, wearing my hats that I created all on one day.

I've heard women say they feel like they can only wear a hat when they are wearing a dress, or going out to tea, or a wedding or some other la dee dah event.

What nonsense!

Hats look great with simple outfits; what could be simpler than a white shirt, beige slacks, a belt and a pair shoes? Wouldn't this be perfect outfit to run to the garden center, to the post office, and to stop by the pharmacy to pick up a prescription? I thought it was, so that's what I did the first time I wore it.

Oh, and it is also the perfect hat to wear while attempting to tame patio lions.

See picture below:

I'll confess, I have yet to wear this hat (above) in public, only because the veil is fragile. I would need to wear my contact lenses when I wear the hat so my glasses will not accidentally catch and tear the veil.

Since, alas, my contact lenses do not address my need for reading glasses, I won't be wearing this hat until I find a place where I will not need to read anything.

Oh what the heck...maybe I can just skip reading the bulletin and hymns at church just once.

I know most of the songs by heart anyway, and if need be, I could always just hum.

I'll have to think about this for a while.

I think this is a tad more dressy hat. It would be perfect for church, luncheons, bridal showers, and other social events. I'd feel comfortable wearing it with either a tailored pant suit or a lacy blouse.

Another pant suit suitable hat, or tailored skirt/dress. I wore it to work with a beige skirt, red top and navy wrap. I think the style is almost too young for me though, and think it would look better on someone with shorter hair and bangs.

Love this hat with a tailored pant suit. The ruffled wave design takes the serious edge off a black suit. Since the hat rests just on the top of the head, I can pull my hair back in a pony tail, or bun when I wear it on a hot day; that's a real bonus here in Houston.

I wore this black hat with the bright orange top that I bought in Switzerland, (with a black tank top under the top for a more modest look) and my black crop pants when I went to the grocery store the other day.
It was a pretty simple outfit really.
As I was strolled along, pushing a shopping cart and studying my shopping list, the butcher called out to me across the store:

"I love your chapeau!"

I wish I could have had a video of how everyone in the store froze, and turned to look at me, the men nodding in agreement, and the women with their pricey high heel sandals and full blown teased blond hair looking completely puzzled as to what this compliment meant.

I had never spoken to the butcher before, but I promptly thanked him for his compliment.
(In Southern style of course: "Why thank you! Aren't you just the sweetest thing to say so!"
Around here, compliments always require a return compliment. Isn't that a precious custom?)

The butcher then started telling me about his 52 year old wife who also wears hats, and how beautiful she looks in hats, and how much he enjoys seeing women wearing hats like his wife does.

What a pleasure it was to hear a man praise his wife!

The conversation lasted perhaps a minute, probably less, but both of us were smiling as I rolled on to finish my grocery shopping.

During that short conversation I could could see women listening in with their mouths hanging open in surprise. I know I would win if I bet that none of the women shopping that day had had a man pay them a compliment on their looks in a decade, and certainly not in earshot of other women!

OK, I know that sounds kind of like I'm blowing my own horn here.
But really, it is about the hat, not me.

I've gone shopping at that store lots of times, dressed nicely and neatly, and perhaps even dressier, and never had anyone compliment me, or even smile.

That day, everyone smiled as I went about my shopping, nodding, touching their head and mouthing "I like your hat!"
Each time I was able to say "Thank you!' and share a smile with them.

I like to think everyone was a little happier for the interchange. That is something hats are known for, inspiring conversation, giving a place to start. A man who compliments a woman on her hat has looked been looking at the woman's face and head. His eyes have stopped there; properly so. I sometimes wonder what women are trying to do when they make their shoes the focal point of their outfits!

I hope seeing the pictures of the hats from start to finish and fulfilling their purpose will inspire you to don a hat as well, and bloom in new ways as the essay "Go Bloom" by A. Rose suggests:

The Philosophy

Women have been hiding out for a long time, even dressing to hide as if to say, don't notice me, let me blend. We have developed the ability of blending into our surroundings and being unnoticed. This was a powerful gift at the time. This ability has allowed us to observe and gain the ability to know what would happen next. It has also allowed us to feel safe. Blending has taught us the art of oneness. Women understand camouflage.
But new times require new strategies. It is time to drop our camouflage and take on our power as women. Anais Nin said, “There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom”.
When you wear a hat it is like medicine for the soul. The hat is the expression of who we are as women in every moment! The hat is your dreams of who you can be. It facilitates the different parts of who you are. With the wave a the hat, viola, you are mysterious, no you are sexy, now proper and now playful.
You cannot hide in a hat. You will be noticed-especially by men. To men you become a lady when you don a hat. One which they rush to open doors for. To women you become an inspiration, reminding them that they have a closet full of hats that they have not had the courage to wear.
When you wear a hat you now become the dream that started when the hat was conceived. The original energy that was put into the hat does not die, it only changes forms and owners. The dream doesn't die, it is passed on, sometimes from generation to generation. And when you see a woman in a hat in the next car on the freeway the dream grows and we as woman acknowledge each others growth. It is the symbol of the feminine which is so needed for us to share such a vision. For I tell you, thus is how you will “GO AHEAD AND BLOOM”

A.rOSE