How to Buy a Hat #5

Final tips when buying a hat:

- Wear color or florals on your head with tailored suits and coats. This brings the eye up to your face.

- When choosing a turban style, leave some hair showing at the brow, and consider letting some curls escape at the back or side. Don't hide all your hair, and don't wear a turban over long flowing locks.

And finally, if you wear glasses, choose more feminine style hats, but avoid veils, which can get tangled in your frames.

I hope you've enjoyed this series on how to buy a hat. Now go! Make the world a more beautiful place! Wear a hat!

1954

How to Buy a Hat #4

Tip #4 when buying a hat:

"Try to buy your hat for a specific costume or wardrobe. And when you are buying it, try to have the costume either on, at at least with you. The hat that sits in your closet is the hat that you can't afford. Charm is reason enough for buying a hat, but if it can make itself socially agreeable to your clothes - so much the better!"

Again, this rule applies to all accessory purchases. You may love it, but does it work with the rest of your wardrobe? It is better to buy one hat that you can wear with multiple outfits, than to buy one hat and then have to buy a new outfit to go with it.

As an example, the wonderful gold sweater with matching turban above by Florence Reichman makes a stylish set. But can she really wear the turban with other items in her wardrobe? Probably not.

How much more practical and versatile are these fedoras from Dobbs? Still fashionable, yet they would probably work with many more items hanging in your closet.

How to Buy a Hat #3

Tip #3 when buying a hat:

"Always look at the back view of your tentative hat. Sometimes, wide 'sustaining' bands will spoil the look of your hair; streamers can look ridiculous; and sometimes a dreamy sweep of straw will crumble into a linear apology in the back. Be stringent. Never buy a hat that is becoming from only one angle."

Just as you would check the back and side views if you were buying a dress, you should check those views when buying a hat.

The hat above is a white felt postilion by Dobbs, from January 1941.

What's a sustaining band? Many hats from the late 30's into the 40's were worn tipped forward over the brow and needed a band slipped over the back of the head to hold them in place. Often times, it was just a thin elastic cord, but I've also seen many with thicker bands like this.

1939

How to Buy a Hat #2

Tip #2 when buying a hat:

"Always stand up when you are buying a hat. Many's the lady who, framed in the little square mirror, looks charmingly proportioned, only to find, when she rises that she looks either pinheaded, or top-heavy. Never buy a hat the day you are experimenting with a new coiffure. You'll end up throwing them both away!"

Good advice, and one I would suggest when buying jewelry or belts too. It's important to see how your accessories look when compared to your entire body in a full length mirror. And take dramatic changes in small steps. If you're not used to wearing a hat, be sure it works with your current hair style before buying.

The hat above features red roses on a black and white striped base with an alluring spotted siren veil. By Walter Florell, January 1941.

Hat by LeGroux Soeurs, 1951

How To Buy a Hat #1

In honor of Easter bonnets, this week I am republishing a series I did in 2008 about choosing the correct hat for yourself.  I hope you enjoy!

Vogue magazine's January 15, 1941 issue was all about hats, hats, and more hats. This week, I'll feature their tips for how to buy a hat. After all, "no hat is worth buying unless it makes you look prettier than you ever looked before. No woman can really explain why she buys a hat anyway. She just feels a great big urge to set something pretty on her head. All she really knows is that the 'something pretty' has a delicious psychological effect, and buying it is always a kind of spiritual adventure. Hats are emotional stuff..."


In this day and age, it's hard to find hats in stores, unless you're shopping for vintage. But have you ever tried on hats? There is something about them that does make a woman feel different, and believe me, if you wear one you will get noticed! I wear a hat sometimes when I go out, and I always get a positive comment or two. Modern designers have been showing hats on the runways for the past several seasons, so it's time to go buy a hat! Here's how:

"1. Always buy a hat as if it were the only one you'll have. That doesn't mean it must be a stern-brimmed pull-on. It merely means that it must be thoroughly in tune with you at your most attractive. Don't be above getting a touch cosmic about your hat - of asking 'But is it ME?'"

Above, a classic swagger hat in white felt with a snap brim bound in navy grosgrain with a band and bow in the same. By Knox.

Hat by Rose Valois, 1950