Easy and Elegant Life

The Search for Everyday Elegance and the Art of Living Well.

Heads Up. It’s Hat Weather.

This is my new hat. It was made by Tracy Watts of New York. It’s felt, with a lower crown than a Homburg should have, and that suits me.

The thing about hats is that you have to wear them. They need a bit of rough handling to make them look good on you. At least these days when wearing a hat at all can turn heads.

This one needs a bit of rain. I wonder if she does one with an unbound brim in fur felt?

Since Wikipedia is down today, I’ll throw in a fun fact for you. Do you know why hat makers are called milliners? Because the best of them emigrated to England from Milan. The word is a bastardization of “Milaner”.

2 thoughts on “Heads Up. It’s Hat Weather.

  1. I had no idea about the source of that word! My favorite job ever was in college–in the Bride’s Shop at a lovely ladies’ department store in my hometown. If a bride could not find a veil she was satisfied with, the woman who managed the department would put in a call to the millinery department. A tiny woman, all of 5 feet tall and so petite, always dressed in an adorable suit and pumps, would come up to the salon and talk through some ideas for a veil, taking into consideration the gown, fabrications, lace, etc., and then she would design and sew the veil herself. She was the one-woman Millinery Department. Naturally, she always wore stylish hats herself every single day, gloves too! When she retired, the Millinery Department closed. I can close my eyes and visualize every detail of the entire store . . . thanks for the reminder, Mr. E!

  2. What a cool hat! A couple of years ago, I attempted to have made a derby (bowler) of similar ilk but was unable to get what I wanted.

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