Hat Trick

I'm addicted to old movies. Love the melodrama, the larger-than-life personalities, the fabulous fashions. I adore glamor on the silver screen as conceived by early to mid-20th century design luminaries such as Edith Head, Orry-Kelly, and Adrian. 

The appropriately-named golden age of cinema shows us an era in which men (and women) always wore hats in public. Hats were standard items of clothing for rich and poor, and whether you were a gangster, reporter, preacher, or bookie, you never left home without le chapeau.

Some blame the demise of men's hats on JFK, who was topless at his 1961 inauguration. Trendspotters, however, have noticed a slow return to hats as style statements for men.  Chalk it up to the Mad Men influence on contemporary fashion, but I've gotta admit, a man in a fedora can be pretty damn sexy.  A cockeyed oversized baseball cap just doesn't compare.

Check out this slide show from the NY Times. Some of the head coverings are ridiculous, but each one makes a unique statement that will be noticed.