Post #29: Trend Report - Hats

            According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, "millinery" is defined as "women's apparel for the head." According to The Mannequin, millinery refers to something that has unfortunately been pushed to the wayside for years. The fact of the matter is that, aside from baseball caps and winter caps for warmth, almost no one wears hats. People have failed to see all the wondrous things that hats can do to an outfit in recent years.

            Hats act as insta-statements when incorporated into your outfit. It used to be the case that women would wear their finest hats and gloves to church on Sundays or to grand occasions (an extravagant example of this kind of hat would be the hat that Audrey Hepburn wore as Eliza Dolittle when going to the ascot races in 1964's My Fair Lady):

http://clutterproject.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/audrey_hepburn_my_fair_lady.jpg

            In the 1920s you would see flappers and chic modern women in their tight-fitting bell-shaped cloche hats creating an iconic style that will be referenced for decades to come. For most of history hats have been iconic stand-out pieces...and recently,  I've gained some faith in their return after seeing a few pop up around the Colgate campus. So, whether you prefer to wear a neon-orange "frat-hat" or something a little more vintage...get hatty. 

            In the Spring 2011 Ready-to-Wear collections and the 2011 Resort collections, hats sprouted up among many designer's collections. They could be spotted on the runways of Vivienne Westwood, Alice + Olivia, Diane von Furstenberg, and Marc Jacobs (to name a few). 

At Vivienne Westwood hats ranged from the structurally demure to cowboy:

 

http://www.style.com/fashionshows/complete/S2011RTW-VWESTWOOD

At Marc Jacobs, straw hats were extra-wide-brimmed and colorful, perfect for sitting in a lounge chair or at the beach this spring break:

http://www.style.com/fashionshows/review/S2011RTW-MJACOBS

At Diane von Furstenberg hats were visor-like and classily patterned:

http://www.style.com/fashionshows/review/2011RST-DVFURSTE/

And at Alice + Olivia turbans dominated the scene:

http://www.style.com/fashionshows/review/2011RST-ALICEOLIVIA/

            With hats, you can almost never go too big or too small. They're an easy way to show the world your personality (whether it's simple-and-chic or elegant-and-extravagant). So take the runway and movies for inspiration and dare to don one. Some of my favorites in stores this season are the Pins and Needles Basic Floppy Hat (www.urbanoutfitters.com), the Coal the Celia Hat (also Urban Outfitters), the Full Jersey Turban (once again, Urban Oufitters) and the Day's End Boater hat from Anthropologie (www.anthropologie.com). So happy shopping....just don't get quite as mad as a hatter ;-)