"Hat of the Week": Excited by "Boring" Hats

Navy 1920s-style Cloche

It's Royal Ascot time. While the eyes of the hat-loving world are on amazing, often gravity-defying millinery creations, I'm thinking about ... the exact opposite.

As much as I love fancy hats, my heart truly belongs to casual hats. I'm a vintage gal at heart. It used to be that women wore hats every day, not just for weddings, races and fancy events. There's a charm to everyday hats. A lived-in feel that makes the hat part of the wearer, not just a decoration on top.

This past weekend was the 10th Annual Jazz Age Lawn Party in New York. (I've never been, and I so want to go sometime!) Most people who go dress up in their 1920s best — from authentic vintage to reproductions to costumes.

Evening ensembles with beaded dresses, metallic shoes, dark makeup and fancy headpieces are the most spectacular to look at. But would a 1920s woman, even the most modern flapper wear an evening outfit to a daytime picnic? Probably not. But I think a well-done historically accurate outfit can be just as exciting.

When most people think of flapper fashions, they most often picture what you get if you Google "flapper costume": fringed dresses and a sequined headband with a feather stuck in it. Sad. Flapper fashions were so much more than that. Some of them were comparatively plain, but still fashionable. (And let's not forget that not every woman — not even every stylish young woman — was a flapper.)

There's something about everyday hats that jazzes me up. (Pun intended.) When I saw the most recent Great Gatsby movie, my favorite hat was a barely glimpsed pink cloche on an extra. It was slightly battered looking. It wasn't slick and overly perfect. As a result, it looked like a real hat a woman from that era would wear. It didn't look like a costume.

This week's "Hat of the Week" is inspired by the real fashions of the 1920s. It's not 100% historically accurate. It's not based on a specific extant cloche. The trim is vintage, but I'd guess it's from the 1970s. This navy cloche, though, is 100% historically inspired. It's designed to be an everyday hat. And it pairs as well with jeans and a t-shirt as it does with a 1920s-style day dress.

A model shows off the navy "everyday" cloche.
Photo by Ting Shen

This hat is 30% off through June 22. No coupon code needed.

As always, I welcome any questions about my millinery process or inspirations.