More on hats

In the last entry, I posted Jaime's answer to the hat question. I wondered why, of all things, I picked that response to post. Then I saw I had written about hats in the entry previous to it. I don't know where my hats are. And it's very cold outside. I need a hat!

I've got a Tibetan hat quite similar to the one in the photograph somewhere in my house. How could one mislay something as bright as that? I had put it on a shelf right in front of the door to my house and I suppose it might still be there, but I have stopped seeing it. I'm curious if that is the case. Hold on. . .

No, it is not there. However, there is a straw hat with a black band. There is also a pink and white striped straw hat and a mesh head and face cover. None of these items is season appropriate. This only goes to show that I have been in denial about what time of year it is or am quite lazy (or both). I'm really wondering where that Tibetan hat went to.

I've only worn it once, on New Year's eve, about six or seven years ago. It is certainly a hat that draws a lot of attention here in Maine. People wear hats with furry ear flaps, but I've never seen one with brocade on it. But the truly odd thing about Maine is that most people do not wear hats. It's cold up here!

I noticed when I first moved here that teenagers regularly wear shorts in the dead of winter. I'm guessing some kid somewhere in this state wore shorts today and I'm hoping that kid does not have frostbitten knees.

My taste in hats tends to be outlandish, though I don't often wear hats. I used to, back when I lived in New York. I thought I looked great in a hat, which reminds me that I actually did think I looked good once in a while.

I used to work in the same office as a friend of mine, in the middle of New York's biggest shopping district. During our lunch hour, we'd walk through Lord & Taylor department store instead of walking on the sidewalk. I often would try on hats, and she pointed out to me, much to my embarassment, that I would suck in my cheeks and purse my lips when I looked in the mirror. In retrospect, I think, "so?", but at the time I was mortified. I tried hard to stop doing this, but it's pretty hard to stop doing something one doesn't know one is doing in the first place. I fear I still make this face when I look in the mirror, with or without a hat.

When I lived in Hoboken, New Jersey (before it became gentrified), I lived in one of the worst slum apartments imaginable. I was financially struggling at the time, trying to begin a career as a commercial artist. Yet, I wore fancy hats. I might have worn raggedly clothes, but I always put a nice hat on my head when I went out (and a woolen cap on my head inside the barely heated apartment). The librarian once said she thought of me as the "hat girl." I remember one hat in particular - a very dramatic huge brimmed black hat with an attached black scarf. I would wrap it around my neck and drape it quite dramatically. I probably was wearing black Converses on my feet. I'm sure I looked absurd.

As to absurdity, I mentioned there was a pink and white striped straw hat in my entryway. It's squashed and crumpled, which is a shame. It was a very nice hat. When I purchased it, I also purchased a pair of striped linen pants and striped jacket. None of these striped items matched in the least. The woman at the store said "They're all nice, but I wouldn't wear them together." I thought, "I can't wait to wear them together." And I did. I wore them all on Martha's Vineyard and I wonder if the folks with me weren't a bit embarassed. Dick wasn't. I know that. He was with me when I bought the Tibetan hat and when I asked him if it wasn't a bit much, he said "Go for it!" (or something to that affect). Dick likes a bit of silliness. It's one thing I love about the guy.

Unfortunately, both of my straw hats are a bit tight and I hate that feeling. The straw hat with the black ribbon around it is a classic, but every time I've worn it I got a bit of headache.

I was looking for some shoes the other day and I noticed all these beautiful, sleek black boots with high heels. I own a pair suede black foots with stiletto heels that are oh-so-sexy and the last time I wore them I was miserable. Just walking across a room was hellacious and I thought to myself that my days of high heels were over and done with. It's not that I used to find them comfortable. I most certainly did not. I can remember clearly many a night of misery in my overly high heels. I finally figured out one could buy cushions to put inside of them, but that never really seemed to help. For one thing, that would make them tighter, for I hadn't bought any of these shoes in a size that would accomodate three layers of inserts. Speaking of inserts, those gel things that are supposed to be some kind of breakthrough in foot comfort technology are just hopeless. Sorry, Scholl's (and all the rest), good old fashioned foam is far superior.

One thing about getting older, for me, is that comfort is becoming my number one consideration. I'm not going to start wearing white sneakers, pastel sweats and ear muffs, but my days of fashion fun coupled with suffering are over with. One wouldn't think hats would be a part of this, but they are. No more tight headbands for me.

Now, that Tibetan hat was way too big for me, so I'm going to find it. It's got to be in this house somewhere, unless someone snuck in and stole it. But I don't think that happened. If someone had, they would have been caught right away, for I doubt there's another one like it in the state of Maine. I haven't seen anyone pumping gas at the general store with a Tibetan hat on. Caps, yes.

When I said noone wears a hat in the state of Maine, I forgot about caps. Caps are another story. So many people wear caps that they've become invisible to my eyes. Dick has one that says "CIA" on it, and it's funny, because many people actually believe he's in the CIA because of it. That's the last thing a spy would do, don't you think? Uh oh. Maybe he is in the CIA. I mean, I think he can't be because of the cap. What a fantastic ruse!