Lids

My name is Skylar Mundy and I am addicted to hats.

Phew. It feels good getting that out in the open.

I have loved hats for, really, as long as I can remember, but my obsessive addiction truly began a few years back when my mom got me a cloche hat for Christmas. I had never actually owned a hat before that. But I loved that hat from the first moment it sat upon my head. And I wore the living daylights out of it. I wore it EVERYWHERE. I seriously started believing that it had magical powers because every time I wore it, I would get so many compliments and the most wonderful things would happen to me! It was simply divine.

After that, it was all over. I began searching for vintage toppers everywhere I went. I am proud to say that I have a burgeoning collection currently, one that is almost frighteningly growing…hence the previous declaration.

At this past antique fair, my addiction met its kryptonite. I was seriously in vintage hat MECCA. Hats galore! Our lovely Kari Shipman was kind enough to document my hat-trying-on spree. She even joined in, too. She couldn’t resist the power of the hats.

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Oh, what fun. :)

I could honestly go on for days about why hats are so incredible and why my love for them is boundless. But instead, I’ve decided to bequeath that task to those in the past who have said all that I would say now. I’ve also included some of my favorite photos of vintage hats.

Enjoy!

“A hat is a shameless flatterer, calling attention to an escaping curl, a tawny braid, a sprinkling of freckles over a pert nose, directing the eye to what is most unique about a face. Its curves emphasize a shining pair of eyes, a lofty forehead; its deep brim accentuates the pale tint of a cheek, creates an aura of prettiness, suggests a mystery that awakens curiosity in the onlooker.” — Jeanine Larmoth

"You can flirt with a fan in your hand. You can flirt holding a cigarette, too.
But a woman can really flirt with a hat." -Dolores Foster

“The right hat may also enliven our imagination of the past….an old-fashioned cloche, a picture hat, or a toque trimmed with a pouf of polka-dotted veiling is just enough to make us feel as if we were living in another, romantic age.”

"Wearing a hat is like having a baby or a puppy; everyone stops to coo and talk about it."
-Louise Green

“A hat is a flag, a shield, a bit of armor, and the badge of femininity. A hat is the difference between wearing clothes and wearing a costume; it’s the difference between being dressed and being dressed up; it’s the difference between looking adequate and looking your best. A hat is to be stylish in, to glow under, to flirt beneath, to make all others seem jealous over, and to make all men feel masculine about. A piece of magic is a hat.” -Martha Sliter

“Saying you don’t look good in a hat is like saying you don’t look good in shoes!”

“You cannot hide in a hat; you will be noticed, especially by men. To men, you become a lady when you don a hat–one who they rush to open doors for. To women, you become an inspiration, reminding them that they have a closet full of hats they have not had the courage to wear.”

“Fashion is a kind of communication. It’s a language without words. A great hat speaks for itself.”

“I myself have twelve hats, and each one represents a different personality.
Why just be yourself?” — Margaret Atwood

“Whenever you wear your hat, your day will be special.” — Margo Nickel

“There’s just something special about a woman in a hat.”

“Women wearing hats are at once sophisticated and whimsical….Their faces are younger and softer. They carry themselves differently, daintily, like deer. Their voices flutter a bit…even when they are talking about things like money and power and work, even when it’s clear they’re very much in charge of their lives.” — “O” Magazine

“When you wear a hat, it is like medicine for the soul. The hat is the expression of who you are as a women in every moment! The hat is your dreams of who you can be. It facilitates the different parts of who you are: With the wave of the hat, voila! You are mysterious…no, you are sexy…now proper…now playful.”

“With the right hat, nothing else matters.” — LaPaloma Hats

“A hat alters the image we have of ourselves, and the image others see as well. For the hours we wear it, it brings out different dimension in our personality, much as a costume aids an actress in her role.”

“…For when a woman puts on a hat, A transformation oft takes place: Self-confidence and self-respect, Show in the lady’s face. She accents her femininity; She stands tall, with shoulders back; Even when her derriere, Is clothed in jeans or slacks.”

“A veil can bring on more shenanigans than forgetting your silk underpants.”

In closing, I will just say that I feel that hat-wearing is a dying art. I believe it is an intrinsic part of being a woman that we all need to embrace, even if it’s just once in a blue moon for that one special occasion.

So, I implore you, embrace your inner fashionista and don a hat in the near future that makes you feel magical. I promise, you won’t regret it :)