Hats off

I‘ve always thought I was born in the wrong era. Growing up I kept thinking that I belonged in a different time – perhaps the Renaissance when knights and kings were everywhere and men fought jousts and went on quests, or perhaps during the Victorian age when women were sleek and polished like the girls in Jane Austen’s novels, or maybe even in the roaring ‘20s when Swing Kids defied the government and hid in underground clubs to play illegal music and dance the night away. I have to admit I’m grateful for the advent of the 20th century and equal rights is something I wouldn’t change for the world, but still the allure of life in a different time has always kept an almost enchanting hold on me.

I suppose the different way of living intrigues me. A code of conduct and a standard of morals that sadly seems all but dead these days was something that the people of the past held on to. Not to mention the funky, stylish, and oftentimes outlandish clothes they used to wear. Don’t get me wrong though, there are several fashions I’m grateful died with chivalry, for example: I joined a medieval fair a long time ago and donned an entire ensemble from laced up footwear to petticoats and corsets and while it was fun pretending to be a lady-in-waiting I would have opted to breathe rather than to have a teeny tiny waistline. There are fashions I would have loved to have worn, like the clothes women always wore in those black and white mystery movies. Beautiful pearl suits and pumps with matching hats, yup those girls always had the matching hats.

My mom has always called me a hat person which, I think, in her lingo means someone who looks good in hats. I’ve always loved buying and wearing them. I’ve always been attracted to beautiful headgear and it sometimes saddens me that I hardly get the chance to wear my precious pieces of head candy more often.

I’m not one to be swayed by the crowds, I know that wearing my red felt fedora out to, say, the mall would get more than a few stares. As a matter of fact, for a country that enjoys so much sunlight and should probably invest even more in sensible headgear we don’t really incorporate the hat into our every day ensembles. We see them on our fashion runways and in gorgeous photo spreads in glossies but hardly ever in real life unless we happen to come across the token matrona. My mom noticed it too when she witnessed me buying a couple of beautiful hats on a recent trip to Thailand and asked me where I was going to wear them. "You know, when I was a little girl," she said "all the women would wear hats. They never left home without them. Now I hardly see anyone wearing them at all."

I recognize that for over two decades we’ve been living in a hat-less era. I call it the Bareheaded Era and now we worry more about hat-hair than we do about complimenting our outfit or keeping the sun out of our eyes. Twenty years ago people would leave the house without a hat no more than they would leave without shoes.

As early as the ‘60’s hair arose and began driving the hats out of the fashion scene as if they represented all that was loathsome in the fashion world. Gone were the old rules of top hats at the opera, homburgs and fedoras for street wear and several other fashionable hats and caps for men. At the same time those lovely headpieces for women vanished. No more meaningful glances stolen from under a wide brim or beautiful pins and sashes coloring up the drabbest outfits. The styles sported by icons like Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich are all but gone now and we only have a few choices remaining.

Factors like weather began reminding people that hats weren’t only for fashion but function as well and whether you found yourself in a scorching climate like ours or in a freezing one you’d find that hats can protect your head from the harshest of elements. Times like these started seeing the return of some of our old favorites. While walking down a cold street market in Germany I noticed several utilitarian hats that were functional and beautiful along with the return of fur caps and berets (faux only please!) and here on our sunny shores when summer started shining down upon us several stores began carrying beautiful straw hats that could compliment any beach outfit while providing the perfect SPF for our sun-soaked faces.

I love hats. I have more than my fair share from old-fashioned sultry fedoras to beautiful wide brimmed straw hats to functional sporty fisherman hats to keep water off my face to the ubiquitous cowboy hat (which I received as a gift) to my ever-favorite multi-colored bucket hats. Even though most of them hang out in my room more than on my head I adore them and often wish I could wear them more often.

Last week I ran across a quaint and adorable hat-maker at a wedding fair in Quezon City. I was perusing through the different booths at the fair when I saw a booth literally over-flowing with hats made from various local materials. The booth, Tony’s Hats, owned by cheerful Mang Tony, specialized in specially crafted all-Filipino hats made from our finest local materials such as banana leaves, piña, and puntal, to name a few. The hats are all lovingly constructed from the materials in their raw form to produce natural- looking gorgeous native straw hats or the materials are dyed to produce a wide array of colors. And, inside each hat, is an appropriate sticker that reads, "Recommended for the protection of skin cancer."

I was so taken by the sweet hat-maker that I chatted with him a bit. Apparently hats are making quite a comeback in the wedding scene made especially for the bridal entourage, the principal sponsors, or even as multi-purpose giveaways. What would be more fitting to give to the hundred guests who flew out to the beach for your wedding than a beautiful native straw hat to keep the sun out of their eyes while you’re saying "I do"?

I finally settled on a very traditional natural wide-brimmed hat made from piña leaves which I was pleasantly surprised to find was extremely easy on the pocket (I wanted to buy a couple more just to keep). It was attractive to me simply because its natural look will match anything and can easily be dressed up with a colored ribbon or sash and most of all it can be folded and flattened for easy packing. Mang Tony’s sturdy sombrero couldn’t be folded without losing its shape and that was one of the best things about it!

So the next time you’re contemplating on how to put the finishing touches to an outfit, consider the perfect hat instead of the perfect hairdo. Great advice I read in an article: study the older royals for the way they manage good proportions, especially the British Queen Mum! And don’t forget to check out your hat-wearing reflection before hitting the streets.

* * *

Tony’s Hats makes a great selection of beautiful hats made from the best local materials. He also delivers all over Metro Manila. For those interested, feel free to contact Mang Tony at (0918) 4045264.