Breaking News?

Wow. Net-a-Porter is really on the cutting edge of trends, huh?

Their copy for this Alburtus Swanepoel Wimbledon straw boater is:

After last season's panama comes the new hat du jour, the boater. Albertus Swanepoel's classic shape is the perfect accessory for vacation sightseeing and lounging poolside.




Not only were we talking about boaters back in March but they were 3% the cost! And in my opinion, way cuter!!!




Mine has a green and navy ribbon.



And while I love my Stephen Jones boater because of its traditional look, I'm quite fond of the mini-boater I made.



If you like, I'll make you one too and we can be leaders of the fashion pack together.

Vintage Inspiration - Ears

Whimsical hats (and hats in general) are making quite a resurgance in the market right now. But facinators and, especially, ears are popping up all over. We've seen ears in runway shows, in designer collaborations with Disney, and for Ascot.



While everyone is ga-ga over the "innovative" ears, I think this 1920's girl was the quirky ear-wearing girl of her time. Look at her... she's adorable.

I may need to get a pair of my own. Personally I like these lace ones from Maison Michel.

Now if only I could hop on a plane to Paris to get them in person!

Quit Stealing All My Ideas

I love hats. I can't help it. They are just so cool. I actually wear my hats. I'm pasty white so I like them for how they look and that they cover my face. I have some baseball caps but don't wear them all that often. I'd rather wear a big straw hat or something "fancier."

But unless you are at the Derby or Ascot, you don't see alot of other hats around. There has been the newsboy cap or the beat up straw cowboy hat but that's usually a trendy hipster or someone of that ilk.

I've been making a rash of recent hat purchases though. I got my boater, two cute vintage hats and talked just a month ago about getting a bowler (aka derby) hat. I've been researching the best options and had finally narrowed it down when I came upon this.... at Target!


Ummm... what the hell is a derby hat doing at freaking Target! Who is ripping off my ideas!

Okay, I know I'm probably not the only one buying/wearing a bowler hat but it's not like you are seeing a lot of them around getting all popular. Where did the buyer at Target come up with this one? Is this a growing trend that I am totally unaware of but subliminally influence by?

Well, I thought about buying the Target derby because, hey, it was $15 which is a bit cheaper than the ones I looked at. In the end, though, I passed. The main reason is because of the brim. A real derby/bowler isn't turned up all the way around like that, so it wasn't giving me the right look.

What I did buy is this one:




This one I bought through a vendor on Amazon. I hope it fits okay and looks good when I get it. I'm thinking of taking it with me to NYC. I tried to find a good vintage one but all the ones I tried were too big. Kind of a bummer, that.

Anyway, there were other options too, if you were looking for one.

The V&A Museum has one as a part of their Hat Anthology exhibit. This is where my boater came from. They only have 2 sizes though.

Berkely Hats seems to have a lot of hat options and their derbys come in several colors

I had first looked at the ones that Historical Emporium was selling but wasn't sure of it. I may get my next hat (a grey top hat) from here.

If I had the cash ($300) I would have loved to have splurged on a Christy's derby. It looks gorgeous.

Hopefully more pics to follow actually wearing my new hats.