Hats Off!

 

ready for my dentist appointment!

I pride myself as being “fashion forward.” If you want to be in the vanguard of The Next Big Thing, just get a load of the clothes I’m sporting, and go ye then and dress likewise. Why, I was among the very first to wear band tee shirts (never mind that the band was The Glenn Miller Orchestra), and I was a flip flop fan long before the flip flop fad (I believe they used to be called “thongs,” which term was later co-opted by the lingerie industry for a completely different item).  And I always mark the biennial return of high waisted jeans by just wearing them all the time. 

 

But one area I have sadly neglected, is the top of my head. You see, no matter the length or style of my hair, it instantly becomes both flat and frizzy on contact with any kind of hat whatsoever. So, when all around me folks are snug in their knitted winter chapeaux, I pretend that I’m not cold at all (even as my ears freeze solid and are in danger of snapping off). In summer, I eschew a sunhat, and swear that SPF 8 sunscreen is more than enough to protect me from a burn. 

 

Steve is a wise one, with a hat for every occasion (usually the SAME hat, a jaunty plaid flat cap). Sure, he looks a little weird wearing it on the beach, but he’s easy to spot if he wanders off!

Even our offspring (and now grand-offspring) see the value of donning a baseball cap from time to time. But not Wifey/Mom/Nana! I used to read the delightful old children’s book Caps for Sale to my kiddos--you know, the story where the guy piles a jillion caps on his head and goes around selling them, only to have some mischievous monkeys swipe them all. My sympathy was always with the monkeys, because they were merely staging a hat intervention, to spare the ridiculous-looking salesperson some embarrassment. 

 

But I’ve just had a “change of hat.”  

 

My sister Carolyn is a huge straw hat proponent. She also slathers on SPF 400, and wears very modest beach coverups. When at the shore with her, I am reminded of the gals of the 1910's, who put on more clothes (“bathing costumes”) than they took off, when by the sea. But here’s the thing—she looks cute, and is surely adding years to her life to boot, by avoiding sun exposure.

 

In Honolulu last month, C convinced me to try a floppy straw hat myself. Lo and behold! I actually liked it! And the hat head was minimal! I have since bought the same style hat, and plan to wear it to church, the supermarket, in the office and on the ski slopes. Why should beach goers have all the floppy fun? 

 

Now then, enough hat chat! Being “fashion forward” as ever, I’m already anticipating The Next Big Thing: 

 

Tap shoes and tutus.

 

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