No matter the season or reason, there's a hat for the occasion. It's an accessory that offers simultaneous shade and style. Not as prevalent as they were a century ago, hats are still brimming with possibilities. Take this season, for instance. Long, sweltering summer days are prime time for hats. Summer straw hats are synonymous with flirty, fun-filled times. Their floppy, wide-brimmed appearance offer that carefree, easy-living attitude of summer. Their colorful or neutral presence adorn our heads as we while away the summer on or near the picnic blanket, the boat, the garden or a vacation.
Mentioning vacations, hats are souvenir shop staples.
Go ahead, buy the one that speaks to your soul; nobody knows you in the place you've traveled to escape your daily life.
A few of my hat purchases occurred on trips. Once home with the hat, I wistfully recall the gentle breeze flapping its brim in my vacation destination. Our hats evoke our memories.
Go incognito, be eccentric and intriguing, all those things easily go to your head when wearing a hat.
Who knows? You may be the one who dares to be different or you may start a trend.
Summer hats convey an easygoing, relaxed vibe, which is the purpose of a vacation.
Sleep late and no time to style your hair? Pop on a hat when heading out the door.
Hats and hair share a complicated coexistence.
Spending time at the lake, pool or beach? A hat will keep you covered when you aren't in the water.
Hats may save us in those time-constrained or water-intensive settings, as they help us tame our tangles and imperfections.
So, I just adopt a "hat hair, don't care" attitude as it's all tucked in beneath.
Hats can also exacerbate our hair's given nature, which can be a bit frustrating.
My straight hair gets smooshed down even more when wearing a hat. Donning a hat, therefore, is a daylong commitment for me as my hair would not recover and look presentable if I removed the hat midday.
Though fashionable and fun, hats are functional accessories as well.
They are intended to protect our face, neck and eyes from the sun regardless of the season.
It's ironic that for the harmful rays hats shields us from, they also open us up for comments and compliments to be showered upon us.
But stay grounded. Don't let it go to your head.
Also, hats amplify women's head movements. A woman wearing a hat can easily telegraph her interest, or lack thereof, in anything she observes or anyone she meets. The slightest tilt of her head up or down indicates her intrigue or indifference. It's all in the angles.
Whether frivolous or formal, our hats relay attitude and attract attention.
Think about it.
Hats have so many roles in various settings.
Royal watchers witness the regal and refined hats situated amid the queen's and duchesses' heads, a custom steeped in pomp and pageantry.
And don't forget our fascination with the Royals' fascinators.
In this country, women wearing hats is often associated with the Kentucky Derby.
Also, some women don hats for church, thought it is primarily a Southern tradition. It hearkens to the traditional belief of putting on our Sunday finest.
Church hats are sometimes referred to as crowns.
The tradition of covering a woman's s head while practicing religious activities is written about in I Corinthians Chapter 11.
No matter the setting or hat style, I'm sure each of us has a knowing smile when we see a woman wearing a hat.
So go ahead, dive in headfirst by trying on a few hats.
Find the one that complements your style.
A hat will mean your hair is no longer the mane event.
That makes the hat center stage and all the rage.