Springtime Brings Out Hattitudes of the Past
W here did all those hats come from all of a sudden? Yes, it’s Easter, the season of spiritual and sartorial renewal, in which heads are decorated just as lavishly as eggs. This weekend (blame it on “Easter Parade”), many women and even a few men are sporting a new chapeau.
But then comes Monday, and the hats disappear. Why? What happened to the love affair between America and the hat? Is it seasonal, dormant or gone forever?
HE: Two factors, I think, killed the man’s hat in America: hair and JFK.
Until Kennedy’s inauguration in 1961, just about every male adult wardrobe had at least one hat in it, and it got a lot of wear. It was a part of the daily uniform. Even Kennedy wore a top hat on his way to the Inaugural. But once he arrived at the Capitol for the ceremony, the hat disappeared (possibly forever; no President since has worn a hat) and he took the oath and delivered his speech bare-headed in the frosty weather.
This sent a strong signal to a lot of men: The most powerful guy in the world doesn’t wear a hat. So why should I?
Of course, at about that same time, barbers started becoming “hair stylists” and men started getting narcissistic about it. “Cover this terrific head of hair with a hat? Forget it!”
SHE: For women, the accessory that tops her crowning glory is alive and well. Young women especially are wearing romantic little flowery hats that hug the hair. And they’re wearing them day into night--wouldn’t think of doffing them just because the sun has set.
It’s a charming, girlish, romantic look--very ‘40s. I’m reminded of Marlene Dietrich and her top-hats, fedoras and cloches. She wore hats everywhere, including those chic nightclubs that once dotted New York.
It was Dietrich who inspired New York designer Donna Karan’s signature--a black crocheted beret worn at a rakish angle.
HE: Hats are more widely available to men these days, but there’s still a reluctance to wear them as anything other than a temporary affectation. Most guys are deathly afraid that they’ll look like Robert Young in “Father Knows Best.”
A guy won’t wear a hat unless it enhances his masculine image. That’s why men have no problem at all wearing baseball caps and cowboy hats. Funny, though . . . nobody would have thought to wear a high-crowned snap-brim Stetson before Harrison Ford made Indiana Jones a household name. Apparently, a hat takes on the character of the person who wears it.
SHE: I get emotional when I think about wearing an Easter hat, and I think I know why. One of the happiest days of my childhood came on an Easter Sunday when I waltzed into the living room and modeled my spring hat for my dad.
He took me in his arms, whirled me around like we were on the dance floor at the Waldorf and sang, “In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it . . . “ I can’t watch “Easter Parade” (a television must for me every Easter season) without getting a lump in my throat.
HE: For a while, there were only two places where you’d see a lot of women in hats: in Catholic churches and on the Buckingham Palace balcony. And when Rome said it was OK for women to come to Mass with their heads uncovered, milliners all over the world tried to keep from shooting themselves to death.
The Royal Family is still a showcase for the hat-maker’s art, although the Windsor women occasionally pick some really awful ones. I recall one that the Princess of Wales wore once that looked remarkably like a blue Frisbee.
I wonder why it is that none of the Windsor men ever wear hats other than the military caps that go with their ceremonial uniforms? Fear--just like the rest of us--of appearing foolish?
SHE: Hats are tricky. If they’re overdone, we can look like we’re putting on airs or clownish. If they’re underdone, we can look mousy, or like cartoon characters (careful of those beanies).
I was visiting the hat racks at Nordstrom recently and saw a hair-hat combination. It was a Panama-like straw with a hunk of long straight black (or blond) hair attached at the bottom. The price tag was about $100. A perfect beach accessory.
Generously beribboned hats are also popular. I bought a wheat straw with a black grosgrain that has a $250 Lily Dache look about it. It was only $29.
Mature women have to be careful of large, broad brim hats; they cast unflattering shadows. Young women, well, they can wear anything. And they usually do.
HE: There’s yet another reason for wearing a hat we haven’t fully touched on, and it’s gaining momentum in the golfing world. Players use them to keep the sun off.
Most pro golfers used to go bare-headed or wear visors or, at the most, caps. Today, more and more of them are following the lead of guys such as Davis Love III, Greg Norman and Tom Kite and wearing lightweight straw fedoras with brims broad enough to keep the rays off. I bought one recently, and I like it a lot.
SHE: Wear a hat to keep out the sun? What an original idea. Next thing you know, people will be wearing shoes to keep their feet warm. What is the fashion world coming to?
