Friday 11 June 2010

Hat heaven




Its been two years since Carrie and the girls have hit our big screens and what a long two years its been waiting for the friendships, frolics, fun and fashion (not to mention another dirty ‘f’ either). You’ve gotta give it to those New Yorkers, they sure know how to dress, well all thanks to a wonderful stylist who seriously doesn’t get enough credit. Patricia Field I salute you: you manage to make it look so easy – Carrie can get away with a turban or a bird casually perched on her head while the rest of us mere mortals would probably be sectioned for such a thing, which (as the appreciating granddaughter of a milner) is a shame.

If you think about it, headwear really is due a comeback any day soon. Sure, every year the high street regurgitates the straw hat or trilby just in time for festival season and there is always a wedding guest with some kind of illustrious bonnet (but even there, the notorious wedding hat is being phased out by fascinators). But what’s really needed to catapult this soon-to-be-trend into the spotlight is a partnership of sheer brilliance: enter Lady Gaga and Phillip Treacy (which is still to be confirmed officially, but rumour has it that it's a dead cert).

The maverick milliner and avant-garde singer/songwriter have collaborated before: when you’re Lady Gaga, known for your flamboyant and un-orthodox outfit choices, who else do you go to for the accompanying hats? Viewed as someone who sees little, or no, boundary between fashion and art, Gaga truly gets extreme pleasure from style, often seen in un-compromising creations for her captivated fans. So, what better way to move forward and develop her unique and innovative love of original headgear? Apply for an internship at one of the worlds most celebrated and inspirational hat designers of course!

Irish born Treacy began making hats to complete his garments while he was at Fashion College. A spot of work experience with Stephen Jones, renowned friendship with Isabella Blow and international acclaim later, Phillip Treacy has given new meaning to the word ‘hat’. He famously kitted out members of the Royal Family for Charles and Camilla in 2005; designed the exquisite green (2008) and black (2010) creations Sarah Jessica Parker wore for the premier of Sex and the City and not to mention the lightning inspired headwear Lady Gaga showed off at the Grammy Awards this year.

Personally, I’d never go for anything nearly as outlandish as the above, all the hats that hang on my hat-stand are for the winter months only. I have a Russian Imperial Army inspired faux-fur hat, which, despite its ridiculousness, is actually quite cool; I have a cream beanie hat with giant sequins covering the bobble and I have another knitted hat which looks like it was made from one of Father Dearest’s Christmas Jumpers. I love a good metallic, cone-shaped Party Hat too, oh and those crowns that you get in crackers too.

Watch this space though, this dynamic duo could thrust the hat back into the 21st Century where it might just belong. Surely a match made in hat heaven.

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