Guys are not afraid to wear hats. They sport anything from baseball caps to trucker hats to beanies.
But there are few females participating in the trend. Since hats are an important part of winter fashion, according to the November issues of Vogue and Glamour, women have no reason to fear the head ornament.
Winter officially begins in December, but winter fashion starts in November. When temperatures drop, hats help to keep warm. According to fashion magazines, celebrities and clothing lines, there are four hats that keep the heat in and look fabulous at the same time.
Beanies, which look small, but stretch to fit snugly around a person’s head, always have been popular since they are easy to wear and keep skiers’ heads warm. This cap fits close to the head and is normally a type of knit.
There are ways to dress up a beanie for a date, or dress it down for football games and classes. Beanies can be fancy with knit flowers or cute patterns, and to achieve the fancy look, wearing hair down is important.
For the sporty look, beanies come in solid colors with logos such as “Puma” written across the front. Wearing hair back in a ponytail keeps the fashion casual. For the bohemian style featured in Vogue, hair can be worn either up or down.
Stores in the mall carry a variety of beanies in polka dots, stripes and solids at reasonable prices. American Eagle’s beanies range from $17.50 to $19.50. At the Gap beanies are a bit cheaper at $14.50 to $16.50, and they have matching knit scarves and gloves.
A step above the beanie on the formal meter is the bucket hat. Bucket hats are cylindrical with a rim that juts out horizontally, casting a shadow on the face. They are popular summer hats, but the right style and a touch of angora transform the bucket hat into a winter trend.
The November issue of Vogue demonstrated the bucket hat’s ability to be either practical or elegant. One model wore a black vinyl bucket hat, which would be perfect for super-humid and rainy days. Another model paid homage to F. Scott Fitzgerald in a wool hat with ribbon wrapping around the cylinder.
Lerner’s bucket hats can help women copy the practical, rainy day hat. Their hats are very sturdy and could keep water from seeping through.
To copy the elegant look, bucket hats can be ordered online. Delia’s Web site, www.delias.com, offers an $18 fuzzy bucket hat. Urban Outfitters, www.urbanoutfitters.com, carries a split wool bucket hat for $28.
This winter’s cabby hat or newsboy cap is best suited for a night out or casual dining. Glamour displayed a photo of Lucy Lui wearing a newsboy cap tilted to the right. The caption says these caps deliver style. Cabby hats and newsboy caps are a mix between a puffy beret and a short-billed baseball cap.
Urban Outfitters and Delia’s both carry this hat in varying materials, such as twill and angora. At less than $20, this trend is very affordable and chic.
The final winter hat is a surprise comeback from the ’40s: the fedora. Fedora is a fancy name for a detective’s hat. Carmen Sandiego tried to start up the trend in the ’90s with her bright red fedora, but Cameron Diaz and Alicia Keys are the new fedora divas.
Glamour magazine had pictures of Diaz looking “fadorable” in three different hats. She prefers to wear her hair in a side ponytail with her purple, blue and black and white hats.
The Oct. 30 cover of Rolling Stone featured Keys donning a black lace corset and a black fedora to match. Keys chose to wear her hair down and curled with the hat.
SAKS Fifth Avenue has an 18-page advertisement in Vogue, where Jewel modeled a pink and cocoa fedora by Burberry. But with a $140 price tag, there are not many students who can afford to travel to SAKS in New Orleans to purchase their own Burberry fedora.
For affordable fedoras, Dillard’s is the perfect store. With a large hat selection, shoppers can pick from a red fedora with a buckle for $42 or a hounds-tooth pattern fedora in brown, black, hunter green, and cream for $24. The best deal is the blue and white striped fedora for only $18.
Hats can be a wonderful accessory to add that extra hint of style and originality to any outfit. But to achieve the perfect look with the perfect hat, Glamour gives four hat don’ts.
– Don’t wear two hats at once.
– Don’t go overboard with a cowboy hat.
– If you have red hair don’t wear a white fuzzy hat with huge hair.
– And don’t wear a coned hat unless you hang out with reindeer.
Celebrities are wearing them, and magazines tell women to wear them. Hats are not scary, and women should take advantage of all the hats offered by local stores and online. If for no other reason, buying a hat will hide crazy, humid hair and even cover the fact that a highlight touch-up is due.