Millinery.

Imagine a little girl dancing about in a child’s gaucho outfit - a little black jacket, a full skirt and an overwhelmingly large sombrero. Each piece intricately decorated with silver rope. She would whirl about, until the full skirt was flying around her, holding onto the sombrero so she could twirl faster and faster. Finally, she would fall onto the floor laughing from the dizziness. This little girl was me during the summers that I visited Granny and Grandpa in North Carolina. I loved that little black gaucho outfit - and most especially the wonderful sombrero.

Hats have intrigued me from those early moments playing with that sombrero and I am often shocked by all the different kinds of hats out there. There are newsboy hats, garden hats, antique hats, Fedora’s and Cloche’s, large and small brimmed hats, church hats, wedding hats and even cocktail hats. Each hat style can be made to fit a specific event, outing and even a specific outfit - creating millions of unique hats to be worn.

I seem to have lost my courage somewhere between being that little girl laughing with great delight at her hat to now. I have been given the opportunity to overcome that loss of courage and bring back that “hat wearing girl.” Living on the Isle of Lewis brings me closer to a more traditional and conservative approach of living. One of these practical approaches is that of wearing a hat as a sign of respect and showing one’s proper manners. People aren’t going to look at me wearing a hat as a fashion statement or as an outward plea for others to notice me; they are just going to see it as a statement of my respect and good manners towards my fellow humans. I like that. A lot. I will be on the lookout for an event or wedding I can attend so that I can buy and have a place to wear my first cocktail hat!

With my newest purchase being a church hat, I am finally trading up from large brimmed sombrero to more feminine and sophisticated hats!