Hats Are All That – And Much, Much More!

Fashion is all about taking risks! What bolder way to accentuate your outfit than to wear the head turning head coverings known around the world as hats?

A hat is merely that, a head covering. Hats can be worn for protection against weather, for ceremonial or religious purposes, for safety and definitely as a fashion accessory. At one time, hats were an indicator of social status and high society.

Today, hats run the gamut from casual, to practical, to status attire, to glamour. Many elegant and eye catching hats polish off a dress ensemble to exquisiteness, like the exclamation mark of haute couture!

Haute Couture: The term “haute” is French and means “high” or “elegant.” Couture literally means “sewing” but has come to mean designing, creating and selling custom made, high fashion women’s clothes.  Hence, haute couture has become a well-known term depicting high fashion.

Hats come in various shapes and are made from a variety of materials. Some of the more common and more worn hats are beanies, caps, visors, berets, party hats, bridesmaids hats, Santa hats, Stetsons, sun hats and umbrella hats.

Think felt hats!

Absolutely darling! Absolutely adorable!

And of course, a popular hat is the crocheted, knit hat or beanie!

Hats are fun and make beautiful frames to bring out the beauty of your face and your hair!

Hats doll up an outfit and say, “I’m confident!” merely by sitting quietly on top of your head. Think of the horse races. The tradition of wearing hats to horse racing events began at the Royal Ascot in Britain, which maintains a strict dress code. All guests at the Royal Enclosure must wear hats. This frilly hat tradition has been adopted at other horse racing events as well!

Can we say The Kentucky Derby?

The fashion worn to this high end horse race has become as much of the spectator draw as the horses!  Glamour at its best! Two types of Triple Crowns!

On the other end of the spectrum, hats make great beach wear and casual, trendy statements, whether made from cloth, material, straw or flannel.

Hats are fun to look at, fun to wear and fun in the sun!

Hats are all of that!

And we all know that a cowboy can’t go anywhere without his famous head wear!

A cowboy hat has become such a staple of the Western swagger that everyone knows a cowboy hat as soon as they see one!

And how can we leave out that hats provide flamboyant fun? Since the early 21st century, flamboyant, over the top hats have made a comeback. Some fashion designers refer to these hats as “wearable sculpture.”  Many pop stars have worn these hats when performing or in various magazine fashion spreads. Think Lady Gaga! And of course, fashion models have balanced the high head wear when strutting the catwalk!

These hats are flamboyantly fabulous:

Words of Advice: If you wear these hats to the movies, be sure to remove your head wear, or the person sitting behind you will not allow you to enjoy the movie! And they will attempt to steal your coveted hat!

Hats are provocative! Hats are beautiful! Hats are haute couture!

When seen from the back, you’ll stand out from the pack!

Hat sizes are determined by measuring the circumference of a person’s head about 1/2 inch (1.3 cm) above the ears. Felt hats easily stretch for a custom fit. Some hats, like hard hats and baseball caps, are adjustable. Many hats come in standard sizes such as small, medium and large.

So dress your head! Wear your crown proudly, whatever your choice of hat may be.

Hats are here to stay, because hats are all that! And much, much more!

Author Nancy Mangano is the author of two novels, A Passion for Prying and Murder Can Be Messy. Nancy has woven her love of detective work and her life long obsession with fashion into her novels. Visit her author website at http://www.nancymangano.com, her author/style blog at http://www.passionforprying.wordpress.com, Twitter @nancymangano and Facebook Nancy Mangano.