Mein Hut, der hat drei Ecken.

[venta]

OK. Let's talk about hats.

On Saturday, I am bidden to a wedding where the invitation suggested the wearing of "prepostorous hats". There are many forms of prepostry, but I was hoping to acquire an over-the-top posh hat.

Sadly, I have failed. Being too mean to shell out for decent millinery, I have been trawling charity shops. I have found many, many hats answering the description.

Not a single one fitted me. Hats, these days, are simply not designed to be worn by someone who has long hair, and has it "up". Which, if I were going to a posh-hat-worthy occasion, I would have. I had the same problem earlier in the year when seeking a non-prepostorous hat for a wedding.

If you watch - say - the Rupert Everett film of An Ideal Husband then the female characters are constantly donning a stream of stunning hats. They all have their hair up, and the hats are worn tipped forward over the face and secured with pins. I want a hat that does that, and I've no idea how to find one.

Earlier in the year I found exactly that shape of hat in Debenhams. It was available in white, cream or black, a coquettish tipped-forward number with a froth of veil. Then I realised: it attached to the head via a broad and clearly-visible Alice band. In fact, it looked completely ridiculous.

I did locate one which was almost-suitable in Oxfam this lunchtime. Sadly, it was a little too small and also virulently pink. Basically, it was like a normal broad-brimmed hat, but the crown was very shallow such that it perched on the very top of the head. It had a narrow black elastic which I assume was intended to put under my chin; I'd have removed that and bought a nice hat-pin and perched it at a much more jaunty angle. However, it was too small and I don't think it would look right with what I'm planning to wear.

So, oh LJ, help me. Some of you might have the same problem: what sort of a hat does one wear with an up-do ? Where do I find coy, tippy-forward Edwardian hats (or, more accurately, copies thereof) ? What do I call hats of that style, or hats with a shallow brim-draft, such that I can search for them online or on eBay ?

Yes, I have considered fascinators. In fact, that was my solution earlier in the year and will very probably be my solution on Saturday. They're all very well in their way, but they're hardly hats.

Comments

[venta.livejournal.com]

It sounds like you have rather more hair-dressing ability than I do :) I'd like to claim that my hair is hard to manage, but actually I fear it's more lack of eptitude on my part.

Low buns always seem to be pulled down by their own weight. However, I suspect you of having longer hair than I do, and my hair's not that thick, so it doesn't sound like a problem with the style so much as with my execution.

Maybe I need hairdressing lessons, not hat shops. I wonder if hairdressers would actually offer such things.

[sea-of-flame.livejournal.com]

Good old-fashioned hair pins! (They look like kirby grips, but are a bit longer & bent permanently open)

There's a definite knack to pinning with them, because you don't use them anything like kirby grips...not sure whether I can describe without hand-waving though.

Um. Plait your hair up & coil into place. Hold steady with one hand, because you need the other free to grab pins. You need to take each pin so the looped end of it (the bottom of the U, if you like) is towards the middle of the bun (or equally, on the smooth side of a french twist/chignon), with the open end/points facing *out* towards the edge of the bun/twist. Push the grip in at about a 45 degree angle, until the points hit your scalp. The aim here is to catch the outer edge of the hair arrangement as you push the grip through, but without overshooting too much. Then comes the clever bit - you rotate the grip through the resultant 135 degrees, pivoting on the points - so the grip is now flat against the head, pointing *in* towards the arrangement. When you then slide it into place, the grip will be completely invisible under the arrangement of hair, but will have anchored the edge of the bun.

Or, in a very poor attempt to do ascii illustrations...the : shows the open end of the grip - I'm afraid I can't fit enough lines in to show how the hair on the scalp gets 'grabbed' but hopeffully it's enough to show what I mean by the rotational stuff!

1/           /
            /
           /
        __:_____
        \      /         ...BUN or WHATEVER
_________\    /_________ ...SCALP!

2/          
           /
        __/_____
        \/     /
________:\    /_________


3/          
      
        _______
    ____\_..   /
_________\    /_________

4/          
           
        _______
        \____../
_________\    /_________

[venta.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, I know all about hair pins. My mother wore her hair in a bun every day until about ten years ago. I know the theory. I've tried it. My bun still falls out.

When I do put my hair up now I use the grippy kind, as I just can't get any decent results from proper hair pins.

Nice ASCII, though :)

[venta.livejournal.com]

I have had a theory in the past that the reason I fail at this is because my hair is completely uncurly. If I've crimped my hair it's so much easier to put it up (but I look like an early 80s throwback). Most curly-haired people don't seem to appreciate how much easier they have it :)

I believe your hair is very straight, though, so I'm surprised that this approach works for you.