by Veronica James

Created on: July 30, 2008

Hats for 2008? Absolutely!

How many of us have to cope with a 'hum drum' Monday to Friday? How many of us have to wear a dreary work uniform? How many of us have to look good for the office? How many of us sometimes feel the need to be different? How many of us feel that we go unnoticed? How many of us look at other people and think 'why can't I look like that - they look so good and confident' ... chances are that we are having a bad day and they are probably wearing a hat!

Get out the hats! they really do make a difference, they uplift a mood, make us stand out in a crowd, return or promote self confidence, turn heads and make people see us in a different perspective altogether. Hats make a statement... saying "I look good" "I feel good" "I'm open to conversation" "I'm happy" "I can conquer anything today"

Hats need not be expensive ... have you checked out Ebay lately? Your local charity shops?

I recently found a very pretty, and new, straw hat in a charity shop, the only thing that spoiled it was an ugly, purple tacky looking flower. I bought the hat for just a few pennies, along with a handful of very pretty pastel coloured flowers, attached to slides which are meant to be worn in the hair. My bag of goodies cost just 2 (approx $4). The tacky looking flower got taken off and put into the bin to give me a blank canvass, and now, depending on what I'm wearing, I can team this hat with absolutely every outfit for the summer. If I'm wearing jeans and a white shirt, I have a huge denim fabric bow which I made from the sleeve of an old shirt, I tied a short leather lace around the middle of the bow and finished it off by attaching a couple of pearlised buttons from the shirt - this looks fantastic pinned to the hat. If I'm wearing a pastel summer dress, then I use one of the flower hair slides - picking out a contrast colour to the dress.

I have a black pin stripe trouser suit for the office which used to feel quite dreary, until I decided to accessorise it. I found a lovely black velvet rose attached to an old evening gown, I carefully took this off the gown, attached in the centre of the rose, a little diamante brooch, again found in the charity shop, and then pinned the rose to my hat. How different I felt walking into the office that day, it teamed up well with my suit, and raised a few eyebrows, along with some very nice compliments.

I don't have lots of hats in lots of boxes, for the summer I have one hat, in one box, and a little bag of accessories for it. A little imagination can change an outfit, compliment an outfit, glamorise an outfit, and make your personality shine.

I will be looking forward to Autumn and Winter seasons, checking out flat felt caps, knitted hats and fake fur, which can all be accessorised with leather patchwork, huge wooden buttons, or coloured beads. Last year I purchased a spray of artificial leaves with seasonal berries which I took apart to make a pin on accessory. The possibilities are endless !

Hats for 2008? ... every year for me.

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