THE MEDIA HAS CONFIRMED THAT HATS ARE THE ACCESSORY OF THE DECADE

Vera Wang Hat from the NY Runway Show

It seems the cart is carrying the horse these days. If you look down the average city street you will see a lot of hatless folks, but if you attend a runway show you will see hats everywhere. Well, if fashion is any indication of active persuasion, then the headwear industry is going to be experiencing a boom (maybe not like the real estate boom of 2004, but a boom nonetheless).

Just this week we saw articles in Newsday, The LA Times, International Herald Tribune, DNR and other papers across the US and Europe. It is only a matter of time before consumers get on board and start wearing hats. One problem is the lack of retail space (but why spoil the fun), but I assume flea markets and art fairs will do their fair share of business this summer.

Since Newsday and DNR were the most positive – and the most informative – we thought we would run those articles. The LA Times headwear article can be found at
http://www.latimes.com/features/magazine/la-tm-hats.03march2,1,6604439.story?ctrack=2&cset=true.

Big or small, hats are back in style
BY JOSEPH V. AMODIO
Newsday

Hat head, shmat head. If there's one thing designers agree on, it's that the hat is back.

At least it will be, come fall, if the designer collections shown recently at Fashion Week are any indication. Hats floated down runways in all shapes and sizes - big, small, feathered, floppy. There were sculpted fedoras and shrunken panamas at Bill Blass, Michael Kors and G-Star Raw. At Max Azria, there were stylized caps reminiscent of railroad conductors. At Vera Wang - a sort of crushed hobo chapeau.

And Badgley Mischka topped things off with hats all big brimmed, glam and - just between us - clearly swiped from Faye Dunaway's closet, circa the 1970s. (But we love those guys, so keep that under your ... um ... you know.)

"A few years back, the trend in accessories was minimalism," says Suze Yalof Schwartz, Glamour magazine's executive fashion editor at large. "Now we've got huge necklaces, big cuffs. What comes next? Hats. They're the ultimate luxury."

Although Schwartz admits she's never been a huge hat wearer - "I haven't worn a hat since 1989," she says - she found herself coveting headgear at a number of shows.

"They feel like pieces of art - you don't know whether to wear them or frame them," she says.

Granted, most women won't wear hats this daring and

drama-ed up, but Schwartz thinks they'll give more toned-down versions a try.

"Men are drawn to women in hats," say Mle Hagen, a Manhattan milliner who designed retro stewardess-shaped hats for staffers at the W Hotel's VIP lounge backstage at the Bryant Park tents.

"If a woman reveals cleavage, of course a man's going to - there's something obvious to look at," she says. "When a woman wears a hat, there's a little more mystery - it's sexy without being obvious."

At the very least, she says, a hat gives a guy an opening line.

"It's like, 'Wow, I like your hat,'" says Hagen. "It's a conversation-starter."

"You gotta have attitude, that's true," admits Jeannie Gesthalter, owner of Jeannie's Dream, an accessories boutique in Cedarhurst. She has about 2,000 styles of handmade hats in stock, from pillboxes and rolled-edge cowboys to metallic pressed-crocodilers, weigh-nothing organza sun protectors and Philip Treacy embroidered baseball or double-buckled newsboy caps. Phew.

As for the dreaded "hat hair," Gesthalter sells a special elastic band that "can be worn in the hair, halfway up, so when you take the hat off, your hair has lift," she says.

"Some women feel like they'll stand out in a hat but, honestly, it makes anything you're wearing look new," says Gesthalter. "Whatever is on your head - feather headbands, Swarovski crystal clips, or a Philip Treacy cap - it updates the look."

There are a list of hat facts that follow, you can find those at the Newsday
http://www.newsday.com/features/lifestyle/ny-style5582326feb18,0,7287289.story

DNR CALLS THIS THE SEASON OF THE HAT – WHO ARE WE TO ARGUE?

NEW YORK — Accessories breathed new stylistic life into the very real clothes shown on fall runways, adding finish and a touch of fantasy to the season’s luxurious take on men’s wear.

Hats—from bowlers and fedoras to knit caps and porkpies—were the accessory-of-choice this season, while silk evening scarves emerged as the ubiquitous alternative to the tie, which was noticeably absent around the necks of models bounding down the runways. When bags did appear, they came in the form of large, handheld duffels that, with their zippered closures, more closely resembled an oversized briefcase—minus the structure.

HATS
Fall 2008 is undoubtedly the season of the hat, a finishing touch favored by designers ranging from Dolce & Gabbana to Band of Outsiders. “One of my favorite trends is the return to all types of felted hats, especially the bowler,” said Tommy Fazio, men’s fashion director at Bergdorf Goodman Men.

Banded, felt bowlers in shades of brown, burgundy and black perfectly accented Jean Paul Gaultier’s version of the Proper English Gentleman, who sauntered down runways in suspenders, silk cravats and rolled-up riding pants, while felt derbies struck just the right balance between Tomas Maier’s mix of workwear and romantic tailoring at Bottega Veneta.

Classic fedoras in soft silhouettes accompanied nearly every look at Giorgio Armani, where the Old World standby lent a certain ease to the traditional Italian tailored men’s wear, while fedoras at Michael Kors brought back an era of ’40s prep influence.

Knit caps, meanwhile, were the perfect extension in a season in which knits took center stage in everything from sweaters and ties to outerwear. Duckie Brown featured an oversized knit hat pulled low—similar to styles worn by the modern celebrity—offering one of the season’s most wearable and functional items. Designers Steven Cox and Daniel Silver even accented evening looks with the cold-weather cap, enhancing the simplicity of a crisp white tuxedo shirt and black slacks with a black knit version and matching gloves.

Miles away from functional was an incredibly voluminous fur hat at Alexander McQueen—a hard-to-miss articulation of his Himalayan-inspired collection, especially when paired with a richly dyed, shaggy wool muffler. “What a statement that was,” said Fazio, who actually bought McQueen’s silver fox hat for Bergdorf Goodman Men.

“The whole season was very fur and shearling, and a hat is a great entry point if you don’t want to buy a fur coat,” said Saks Fifth Avenue’s men’s fashion director, Michael Macko.