Chapeau: hats off to (and on in) Aix-en-Provence

Recently I’ve been reading about the celebrated Parisian milliner, Madame Paulette, supplier of headwear to golden age Hollywood and inspiration to Stephen Jones.  She invented and popularised the wearing of turbans in the 1940s.  Initially intended as a practical option during wartime shortages and to help women protect their hair when cycling, they became a strong fashion trend and one of her most distinctive products.

In the 1930s and 40s, hats were often the kind of aspirational accessory that the handbag has become today.  If she was feeling optimistic or successful a woman might treat herself to a new hat.  These days, buying a hat is often more about practical need – either for weather protection or for formal occasion wear.

How refreshing, then to come upon a hat shop that offers a bit more than this and in a slightly unexpected location: Aix-en-Provence.  Chapellerie Berenice (6, rue Aude, Aix-en-Provence, with branches in Arles, Nimes and Motpellier) sells more or less most things you might dream of placing on your head.  From a basic panama or beret to a majestic topper, you can find it there.  Initially attracted in by an eye-catching black trilby with a scarlet hat band, my eye was then drawn to a rather exceptional fedora in oxblood felt, its crown overlaid with black lace.  This beautiful specimen turned out to be a Borsalino, a venerable brand not afraid to take a few design risks.

Trying on a hat of this kind, one can understand completely how hats were, and still can be, central to styling.  There was even a time when the term ‘milliner’ was synonymous with ‘stylist’ – Chanel and Madame Lanvin both moved seamlessly between millinery, fashion and haute couture.   This fedora has the power to lift the most basic outfit, transforming the mundane into the modiste and it does so with impressive ease.  We are all far too busy to spend time agonising over what to wear each morning – what could be easier on those days when inspiration is lacking than to reach for a transformative topper to add some interest to an otherwise simple outfit?

So, thanks to Chapellerie Berenice for broadening my styling horizons, and for a rather stunning piece of headgear.  Time to move on from the ‘it-bag’ and embrace a boader range of accessories.

Hats

Recently I decided I needed a new hat.  I wear beanies through the winter, baseball caps, a panama and a floppy-brimmed beach hat regularly. They are easy hats to wear: they are practical, everyday hats.  Now I wanted something that made a bit more of a style statement.

I looked for advice from Dior himself. In Dior and I, he writes:

‘The particular shape and size [of hat] to balance the “line” of the dress has to be decided…It would be out of the question to show a collection without hats. However ravishing the dresses, the mannequins would still have a naked air. This is not an exaggeration; there are circumstances when one may overlook the feeling given a face by a hat, but never in presenting a new line where a hat is essential in achieving its proportions.’

I went hat-hunting and discovered a marvellously inspiring boutique. In an unpromising location, steps from East London’s concrete-clad Old Street roundabout, CA4LA is a treasure trove for a hat-wearer. The brand is well-known at home in Japan but not so well-known elsewhere. I was surprised by the range of their stock. I’d been expecting to see hats with a Japanese style aesthetic – floppy straw hats, bows, bucket hats, visors. What I had not expected was their extensive range of more traditional styles in a wide choice of colours – fedoras, bowlers, flat caps, trilbys – and the kinds of show-hats you could wear for a day at Royal Ascot.  They work with a range of designers and suppliers and seem to hold an impressive inventory of stock.

As I tried the hats on, I tried to analyse what worked or didn’t and why. This is not something you can rush and it was also clear that my chinos and casual jacket were not helping matters. I knew what I liked but frustratingly what looked great on a wooden stand did not look so great on my head, no matter how I angled it.

I left, loving some of the hats I’d seen but frustrated that I could not make them ‘suit’ me. It took me another week or so to work out what was going wrong.

To be continued.