I admire hat people, don't you? It takes a certain something to be a hat person.
The late Isabella Blow was probably the most savvy hat person of our time (I remember being so excited when I spoke to her on the telephone following work experience at Tatler - she was delightful) and Anna Dello Russo's recent foray into the limelight has resulted in fashion pages awash with (some really rather mad) hats. Think fruit, Stetsons, feathers. Blow was clearly a woman in love with fashion, particularly with new talent (she discovered Philip Treacy, as well as Alexander McQueen) and ADR is a woman who is confident enough to have fun with fashion, meaning her wacky hat choices somehow look natural - she wears her hat, rather than her hat wearing her - they work together, encouraging one another.
The late Isabella Blow was probably the most savvy hat person of our time (I remember being so excited when I spoke to her on the telephone following work experience at Tatler - she was delightful) and Anna Dello Russo's recent foray into the limelight has resulted in fashion pages awash with (some really rather mad) hats. Think fruit, Stetsons, feathers. Blow was clearly a woman in love with fashion, particularly with new talent (she discovered Philip Treacy, as well as Alexander McQueen) and ADR is a woman who is confident enough to have fun with fashion, meaning her wacky hat choices somehow look natural - she wears her hat, rather than her hat wearing her - they work together, encouraging one another.
I think you're either a hat person or you're not. Keira Knightley wears a bowler hat particularly well, while Elle Macpherson is perfect in a straw cowboy style for the beach. Another celeb who gives good hat is Kate Hudson; she wears a relaxed, woolly beanie as well as she wears a 70s floppy hat or a smart black trilby. However, for every brilliant hat person there is a not-so-brilliant hat person. Hats-gone-bad is usually the result of the wearer not committing to said hat (you need to really feel your hat from within - this is not nonsense) or because the hat is part of forced styling. Hats, no matter how elaborate, must be worn with nonchalance, as if you have no idea you are even wearing a hat. Hat? What hat?
Of course, weddings are a brilliant excuse to wear a hat. Even if you're not a hat person, you can feel at ease wearing a hat to a wedding because you know you'll be in hat company. Hats attract attention and this can often make people self-conscious, whereas at a wedding, at least half of the women will be wearing something atop their blow-dry. Oh, and there's that lady clad in white who really should be stealing the show anyway.
For non-hat people attending weddings this summer, I would suggest choosing a hat from Accessorize where designs range from classic full hats to subtle pill-box styles. I wouldn't recommend a low-key fascinator - too vanilla, it won't push your hat boundaries quite far enough. For non-hat people, wearing a hat to a wedding is the only occasion where you will find an excuse to don some marvellous headwear without feeling try-too-hard.
If you really aren't sure about wearing a hat then, at the very least, practice wearing one while you watch the Royal Wedding this Friday. You'll be safe in the comfort of your own living room, either alone or with friends who don't care what you look like, and let's be honest, have probably seen you in some awful trend or another at some stage. You and your hat can get to know one another so that when the time comes for you to venture out together, you can respond to compliments with, "Hat? What hat?"
All hats above by Accessorize.
Images courtesy of Accessorize with thanks.
