ARETHA’S HAT UPHOLDS TRADITION BORN IN CHURCHES OF THE SOUTH

Gertrude F. Jones

If you know about Church Hats (and who doesn’t) then you know that the hat is steeped in history. We thought we would share this article we found (from the Rhode Island News) about Aretha Franklin’s hat. The interesting thing to note here is that this hat loving, church- going woman can’t find any good hats. Could that be because there are so few hat stores left in this country? It is a thought.

“Gertrude Jones said Aretha Franklin’s hat at the inauguration carried on the tradition of African-American women wearing church hats.

“The type of hat that Aretha had on is what we call a church hat,” said Gertrude F. Jones, who works in Providence as director of diversity for Lifespan.

In African-American churches, she said, “it’s a convergence of faith and fashion. It keeps the Sabbath holy, and it’s also glamorous.

“If you look in the congregations, especially in the South, that is the thing to do,” said Jones, who also serves as second vice president of the Rhode Island chapter of the charitable group the National Coalition of 100 Black Women.

“You have to have a fabulous hat, either with feathers, tulle, ribbons, something Afro-centric. The bigger and more design, the better.”

Franklin had on a gray hat, gray gloves and a gray outfit, Jones noted. “I didn’t see her shoes, but I will bet you she had on gray shoes.”

Jones said she and her three sisters were brought up knowing that the hat, pocketbook and shoes all had to match. “We call it topping off the outfit. If you had a beautiful suit, shoes and bag, the outfit wasn’t finished without the hat.”

The tradition is rooted in slavery and Christianity. “When slaves would go to church, they would take a little cloth, or a doily,” she said. “We don’t want to go to God thinking we’re so bold as to be uncovered. Then it just kind of progressed, to bigger hats, matching hats. Now, of course, it’s this huge fashion statement.”

Jones said that after her mother died, “We were cleaning out everything and when we went to her storage bin, we found boxes and boxes and boxes of hats.” Three of the sisters (one wasn’t interested) divvied them up.

“I have around 25 or 30 hats, I mean fabulous hats,” she said, from her mother’s collection. She wore one to her coalition’s annual Sister Hat Tea. “I think I came in number two” with her favorite, which she described as the color of a copper penny with beautiful thin white feathers in front.

“Black women actually keep the hat industry going,” Jones said, but you have to know where to shop for them.

“They’re hard to find. Every now and then TJ Maxx has a collection on sale. I’ve also seen some at Burlington Coat Factory. Most of them you have to order online.”

She said specialty stores in the South sell matching outfits - shoes, bags and hats. When she travels and sees a fabulous hat, she buys it, she said.

“I’m so proud to keep our tradition going.”

By Donita Naylor