Adornment of the Head (Mickey Mouse Ears?)

I’m off to catch that 14-city tour. Hats and Headdresses: Adornment of the Head from Around the World is a wonderful exhibit open through March 19 at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History.

They call the representation “a span of time and cultures…displaying everything from a 1988 felt cap with Mickey Mouse ears to a ’spider hat’ from Bhutan made from yak wool.”

Sounds very interesting, and I think I’ll fit right in with me Dobby–even though it doesn’t sport big ears.

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

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Pining for Elegance? Strap on a Watch!

A survey showed that last year, thirty-five percent of Americans wore fine jewelry every day. And get this – people over the age of 24 with incomes of $75,000 or more, own 4.5 watches. Just like they have 1.2 kids or whatever.

Anyway, the most elegant accessories for men are watches and ties.

I wonder if ties are fractionally owned too?

Like would .3 of a tie be a bowtie?

Off to ponder that conundrum, puzzled but (as always) extremely well accessorized.

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

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Hip-hop hats (and we’re not talking bunny ears)

On until March 19 at the Columbus College of Art & Design, there’s an interesting new exhibit called Bling: Sampling Hip-Hop Fashion and the Urban Aesthetic. It examines how “the music of hip-hop drives the fashion industry and how it has shifted fashion as a whole.”

“Hip-hop (fashion) is all about the best,” said Beverly Smith, fashion editor-at-large for Vibe magazine. “It’s about luxury and it is more sophisticated than what many people want to give credit to. It makes a political statement.”

Well, I’m gonna put on my Kangol and go break some hips! Wanna come?

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York
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Pretty in Panama

Another celebrity has joined the bandwagon of those promoting a line of hats. Jackie Chan, the martial arts star, is touting panamas as his choice of headgear, and I must say the panama holds a special place in my heart (and on my head).

It’s my opinion that not enough women wear the panama–it’s a sexy look; fun and sophisticated, equally at home in the city center and the bedroom.

Enough secrets for today. I’m going somewhere to cool off…

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

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Advice Direct from the Headwear Information Bureau

Hat panache can be yours by following these tips from Vicky Gamez of the Headwear Information Bureau:

• Check yourself out: Buy a hat that’s in proportion to your body. “It’s good to look at the whole body when buying a hat,” Gamez said. For example, “a tall lady wants a short hat. A well-rounded lady wants something to balance (herself).”

• The foolproof options: If working with your body is too perplexing, go for a style that generally looks good on everyone: a fedora for men and a portrait hat (one with a small brim) for women, Gamez said. Other classic hats are the floppy brim and the cloche for women, and the newsboy cap and cowboy hat for both sexes, she said.

• Positioning: For the best look, put on your hat from front to back. With one hand, place the inside front of the hat on your forehead. With the other, pull down the back.

A few more notes:

Never put on a hat back to front. Never, ever crunch it down. And always follow this piece of advice from Gamez: “Tilt the hat to add some pizazz to it.”

Not bad advice from the Bureau, although a tad conservative. Personally, I happen to like wearing tall westerns, even though I’m pretty tall myself. And I think that a tall woman actually looks extremely good in a hat that adds inches: she makes a very confident presentation.

Also the colors and material can actually affect the “size” of a hat: you just SEE a red leather more than you do a khaki linen.

Gee, I really should have been in the FBI — sorry! — I meant the Headwear Bureau of Information.

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

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A Man of Many Hats – Really!

Deep Thought: Does the man make the hat or the hat make the man?

In the case of Cincinnati’s newest vice mayor, Jim Tarbell, there’s no question. The man of dress felt hats, scooter helmets, caps and top hats (which he dons for press conferences!) is confidence personified, and style is whatever he wants it to be.

Go ahead. You try!

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

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Shoulda stuck with the fedora, Jack

Nix the Office Depot ball caps, boys; it’s time for “something sharp, classy, adult.” So says Douglas Brown of the Denver Post, and I must say, the man’s stolen my line.

His favorite hat, the fedora, is also my lid of preference—and this is not an ‘of a certain age or style of dress’ hat: “Fedoras, especially the short-brim styles, are appearing in public again, with celebrities like Ashton Kutcher, Justin Timberlake and Donell Jones routinely wearing them. For the most part, these fellas aren’t pairing suits with fedoras.”

See you at The Fedora Lounge.

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

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Stories of Joy, Sorrow and Hats: Memories Under the Brim

My very first post on this blog was about Craig Marberry’s book, Crowns: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats.

Not to toot my own visionary horn or anything (*where’s my bugle*), but Crowns, presented by the Arizona Theatre Company, is now playing through Feb. 4 at the Temple of Music and Art.

Regina Taylor wrote the musical play, which she says took her on a “journey of self-discovery”, with a little help from her mom.

At one point, I was talking to [my mother] about it, and she walked me through her closet of hats. I spent an afternoon talking to her about her hats and tracing her life through these hats. That’s when I really got it.

“I hadn’t been a hat wearer,” she said. “Now I wear hats and own about 50 of them.”

And where’s your crown m’lady?

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

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Hat Non-Sense

I’m a bit ruffled and riled about what’s going on across the pond. Seems a guy can’t sit in a pub, enjoying a pull and yarn, without being evicted these days.

Aye, I’m not jokin’ – it’s come to that. Security cameras in a pub demand that patrons remove their hats or face permanent expulsion!

If you can stand it, read the whole sorry story in The Publican about a man and his trilby.

Saints preserve us!

It’s a sad day, but thanks for reading,

Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

Hats: Good for Your Soul

Fashion Fair, an annual roadshow featuring “old-guard designer names — Givenchy, Bill Blass, Thierry Mugler” is a showcase of “…everything about African-American women that is positive,” says its CEO, Linda Johnson Rice.

Its 70s heydays long passed, Fashion Fair “elders…talk about how important it is to know what fashion really is. They regret that young folks don’t seem to understand fashion. [They're] talking about shoes and matching handbags, fancy hats, and the kind of suit-and-tie combinations that are so slick a man seems to slide around a room rather than walk. In fact, they mean fashion as a proclamation of self-respect.”

Far be it from me, whippersnapper that I am, to argue with the ‘elders’ – but this hat-scarf (called M’lady) is purchased by young 20-something women who like different looks for different days, moods and occasions, as well as those ladies who’ve pretty much settled in their style and know instinctively what they like and what works for them.

By the way, I’m one of those guys who’s so slick he slides!

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

Read the full article from MercuryNews.