For a while there, it seemed like the world might be turning into one big American Apparel ad: around every New York corner lurked a pair of slim slacks, a tri-blend t-shirt and a pair of those canvas slip-on sneakers from K-Mart, and that’s about where fashion and effort ended. While I understand the Gotham need to not try too hard, certain neighborhoods had me feeling constantly overdressed in my (um, I thought) carefree rayon 40′s numbers. But now, suddenly, at least one fixture of good old international dressing has returned: behold, the hat!
Sarah Jessica Parker wore a green creation by Philip Treacy to the London premiere of the Sex and the City movie, complete with giant rose and acorn-inspired base. Treacy, a graduate of London’s Royal College of Art, burst onto the scene in the early 90′s when by creating a wedding headdress for his muse, late fashion editor Isabella Blow, and tends to go vertical with his pieces, often using feathers and butterflies (an all-butterfly headpiece was also worn by Princess Beatrice recently to the Peter Philips’s royal nuptials).
Sometimes, Treacy’s creations even extend downward, around the eyes and over the bridge of the nose like sugary-sweet armor. ”Hats can make a boring outfit come to life,” says vintage collector Anne Schutterlin. “They’re like those beautiful flourishes on top of a cake that make it taste even better!”
Editorial favorite Patricia Underwood, however, takes a different approach, using the slightest of shaping tools to finish her horizontally-oriented, floppy sun hats. Underwood has been in the business 25 years, though there has definitely been a recent resurgence of her name in magazine credits. She prefers to forgo wild ornaments, rather, letting silhouettes speak for themselves. As a lingerie and clothing designer, Candice Goodman can appreciate Underwood’s attention to subtle proportion: “Millinery as an art form seems to be fading, and it’s a tough thing to learn and execute well. Anyone can pile a bunch of flowers and bugs onto a hat- which is great! But I think it takes a lot more discipline to keep it simple and let it slope just right. That gives you more options as to the other aspects of the outfit, anyway. And, you know, the shape of a woman and what she’s wearing is the first impression you get of her from afar. That’s important.”
There are no rules, of course, to combining your favorite American Apparel ensemble with an adorable hat. Just make your wardrobe look like fun already! Please!