Hat-like object

[owlfish]

"You're with Kevin. He's the king of updos." said the receptionist as the three of us checked in for our wedding-day hair appointments. I was having my hair done so it could stand up to the excitement which was my first formal British-style hat. pittenweem, bridesmaid, and chamaeleoncat, bride, were also having theirs done. Coordinating appointments with them was a handy way of spending a little more time with Toronto friends. We'd driven through a flash thunderstorm and flooding streets to reach the salon in time, the only obvious source of panic for the bride over the course of the day.

Kevin really got into the project of matching hair to hat. He curled all my hair first until it was a mass of ringlets; then he styled it back, tucked it up, redid it once until it was what he was after. And the results were glamorous. All of a sudden, I understood how to look like Hollywood - go to a hairdresser at least once a day, possibly more often.

I was the only one at the wedding with a hat, out of the three hundred or so attendees. I stood out. The florist said it looked British. One woman said it reminded her of Camilla Parker-Bowles. Yes, yes it was British. Hats are still fairly staple formal wear there, enough that walking into a somewhat random womenswear store to buy wedding clothing could result in me walking out again with a hat-like object, just another snazzy accessory, like a belt or matching heels.

---

I'm now in Little Rock, one big family reunion. In the past two days, I've visited two federal monuments: NASA in Houston (the Saturn rock is SO BIG) and the Clinton Presidential Library (did you know that the first presidential armored car was one seized from Al Capone?). There have been transportation complications (a taxi that never came; no rental cars to be had in all the city), but generally things are going well. Seeing innostrantsa again was wonderful, as if it hadn't been eight years since the last time. And I have hundreds of photos to go through from the past week.

Evening highlight: wild ducks, roasted with bacon for some fat to keep them from drying out, rich and full-flavored.

Comments

[morganlf.livejournal.com]

you look beautiful!!!!

[owlfish]

Thank you! My hair has never been so glamorous before.

[taldragon.livejournal.com]

oooh pretty hat!

[easterbunny.livejournal.com]

Wow, I love the feathery thing!

[tisiphone.livejournal.com]

I am not yet convinced these are hats, as they seem more like exotic and slightly outsized hair ornaments, but that really is lovely.

[owlfish]

I think the website called them hairpieces, but that feels very wrong to me, as no fake hairdo is involved. Hair ornament maybe?

[gillo]

That looks so pretty. And nothing like Camilla!

I suppose hats are still more common than not at weddings here - and christenings, graduations etc too. They feel right for formal occasions. That said, my most recent formal hat is well over a decade old.

[a-d-medievalist.livejournal.com]

I love hats! Although, when I first saw your H-LO, I thought the feathery things would hang down in the front!

[owlfish]

I have no idea what way it's meant to go. I deferred entirely to Kevin in figuring out what to do with it, and he had no experience with H-LOs that I know of. I love how it turned out, but have no idea if it's anything near "right" had I had my hair and hat put together on the other side of the pond.

[a-d-medievalist.livejournal.com]

I love the way you're wearing it -- it's just that when I first saw it (when you bought it), I immediately thought it was one of those little things that perches jauntily atop one's carefully coiffed head, with the long feathers dangling saucily (and annoyingly) over an eye. My way of telling is that the label usually sits at the back.

[owlfish]

Alas (or perhaps, for aesthetics, happily) there is no label. I took the store-advertising stick thing off when I got it. The heart of the object is a hair comb.

[carmen-sandiego.livejournal.com]

Ooh, you look lovely! And with the pretty feathery things! *envies*

[pfy.livejournal.com]

I, too, would have thought of it as more of a giant hair ornament than a hat, but you really do look great in the photo. So cute!

[owlfish]

Whether or not it could be conceived of as a hat, it certainly fills the niche of hat for the purpose of British formal events. Surely the haberdashery industry has some sort of banket term to cover everything which fits into the "formal even hat niche".

[pfy.livejournal.com]

I spent half an hour when I should have been working trying to find out if there was a specific word for such things. 'Headpiece' or 'hairpiece' was the closest I could find, but I'm not sure if that's right. If there exists a generic word for formal-hat-equivalents, I also couldn't find it. If such a word is needed, I suggest 'isomillinery'.

It suits you, whatever it is.

[owlfish]

Thank you! "Head dress" is apparently what the store calls it. I'm not convinced by that either. I do rather like "isomillinery" though. A fine coinage.

[mirrorshard.livejournal.com]

What a wonderful hat! (For arbitrary values of "hat" as people have remarked. Still wonderful.)

[darktouch.livejournal.com]

Lokoing forward to seeing the pictures. I feel like I should know who innostrantsa is.

[owlfish]

She's otherwise known as Q.

[moon-custafer.livejournal.com]

Had to check that, but her spelling ability suggests she's definitely *not* the Q I used to know. (also the Q I knew was male eight years ago, though hoping to eventually be otherwise).

[darktouch.livejournal.com]

We were talking about her when you came to visit weren't we? Say hi!

[owlfish]

I don't remember, but the odds are good!

[snowdrifted.livejournal.com]

It looks gorgeous! Ooh, v. fancy indeed.

[moon-custafer.livejournal.com]

Woo! hat! hat! hat!

[retsuko.livejournal.com]

Gorgeous hair ornament! :)

[intertext.livejournal.com]

That is amazing! I love it. And "hat" is quite the wrong word for it. I'm not sure what the right word is, mind you ... but it's very cool.

[owlfish]

The website of the store from which I bought it says "Head dress", apparently. I'm not convinced that feels quite right either. But so much fun!

[justinsomnia.livejournal.com]

It is very lovely ;-)

While you were describing it though, I was picturing something more like this.... maybe with a slightly smaller hat. A smaller top-hat-ish hat. And then you would need lots of curls, but still in an updo. You should do that someday. It would be amazing on you.

[owlfish]

I'd happily try it! I strongly believe that hats are underused in current fashion. Of course, since they tend to crush what curls I have left with this length/weight of hair, I don't tend to wear them much. But I advocate them nevertheless! It might be more feasible if I learned how to coif my hair myself.

[a-d-medievalist.livejournal.com]

I note on the site where you bought it that it calls itself a Head Dress ...

[owlfish]

Thank you for checking. I'm not sure what baggage I bring to that term. Hmm. It doesn't feel quite right, but I certainly can't offer a better term for it other than the understated "comb with feathers".

[my-tw0-cents.livejournal.com]

I love it--looks so classy!

[owlfish]

Thank you! For practical purposes, I don't recommend wearing it this way, however. It lasted all day as long as I was standing up straight. Late evening brought a trip to a bar with slouching - and two of the feathers broke against my shoulder because of it. Poor thing. I'm hoping they're mendable with glue or minimal use of wound thread for reinforcements.

[tinyshel.livejournal.com]

Very beautiful. And not like some of the big crazy hats I saw at the last British wedding I went to. Much more elegant.

[owlfish]

Thank you. Much as I appreciate the elegance of a well-chosen hat, the problem with weddings is that of any large event in which everyone is sitting down: tall people and big hats block views.

[noncalorsedumor.livejournal.com]

The hat and hair look fabulous!

[wakarusa.livejournal.com]

how could I forget that one! gorgeous.