HURRAH FOR HATS
Looking for the latest spring trend? Look no farther than the humble hat — and you’ve got a lot to choose from
Women who want to rock a hat this spring might want to start with a tip of the brim to their husbands, boyfriends or brothers.
The world of fashionable hats for women has turned to traditional, male styles: Fedoras, Panamas and the ’50s and ’60s pork-pie hat resurrected recently by Don Draper and his Mad Men cohorts.
Roberta Glennon, owner of Roberta’s Hats, 1318 Government St., said women are now enjoying men’s hats. But they often do it with a nod to the side of themselves that’s more girlish or whimsical.
Glennon points out the serious-minded Mad Men wear their pork pie hats, square across the brow with brim down low, shielding the eyes from the sun. Or, they wear the brim rolled up all the way round, in a look now called The Heisenberg, after Walter White’s alter ego, in Breaking Bad.
A women can wear the same hat, but pushed off the face and resting on the back of the head.
Men have traditionally stuck with that hat in greys, blacks and browns or summer-time straw. Any desire for some extra man flash gets gratified by the little feather in the hat brim.
Women are wearing the pork pie decorated with a brim made of pretty lace. The bolder are even wearing it in Day-Glo colours such as orange, pink or turquoise. Come summer, they even match it to their bathing suit.
“It’s a great starter fashion hat,” Glennon said of the pork pie.
Tracey Drake, editor-inchief of Niche, a Victoriabased fashion and style magazine, said recent fashion runways have been filled with hats of one style or another.
But Drake said in B.C., and Victoria, hats have long been seen on the streets.
Hats are a practical nod to the B.C. weather, rain and shine. They are also part of the West-Coast personality that Drake likes to characterize as “a little bit quirky but always very comfortable.”
“Sometimes it’s an Australian hat, sometime its a rain hat or even a ball cap,” said Drake.
“Hats are just a big part of who we are as a fashion culture.”
Glennon has been selling hats to both men and women in Victoria for more than 20 years.
Some hats, such as the bell-shaped, “cloche” style have been around for years and are effective pieces year round.
They are especially appropriate for church weddings and other events where tradition says women should always wear a covering on the head.
Waterproof rain hats in fun colours are always a good fit in Victoria. Glennon buys hers from a maker in Vancouver in a number of styles.
“It’s nice to see because a lot of people have the notion that the hat you wear in the rain can’t be stylish,” said Glennon. “But it really can.”
Meanwhile, Kate Middleton and other women celebrated for style have managed to keep current that small head-piece known as a fascinator.
But such pieces can draw attention and be too much for some women. Glennon said it can take a little practice to wear such hats. She likes to call it learning a level of “hat confidence.”
She advises hat newbies to start with a cap with a smaller brim before graduating to an eye-gabbing wide-brimmed fedora or Panama. “It can take a little while to get comfortable with a hat,” said Glennon. “So if you want to go with a fedora, start with a small brim.”
A cap, such as the boyish, European-looking cadet caps, is also a good introduction. Even a baseball cap, which Roberta’s sells without any logos in bright yellow, red or a stark white, can perk up a casual, spring outfit without looking outlandish.
“Then, as we get into the summer and the sun is out, a woman can get into the wider, floppier brims, a more ‘beach-y’ look,” Glennon said.
For the head-gear practised, such as Jackie Devon- shire of Roberta’s Hats, wearing something on the head is rarely just part of an outfit.
It’s the whole look. Whether it’s a tuque, cap or her current favourite, the pork pie, a hat establishes the ensemble.
“It can be a fun, different style and make your whole outfit look totally different,” said Devonshire, who models several styles on this page.
“Sometimes, I’ll pick an outfit and it won’t go with the hat I want to wear,” she said. “So, I’ll just have to pick a whole new outfit.”
The hat, Devonshire said, puts its own stamp on the clothing.