The Mad Hatter
We’ve watched them don designer shades, we’ve witnessed their fads for expensive matching luggage, limited edition cars and bling bling jewellery, and now the latest trend in the world of celebrity is . . . the hat.
These days, no self respecting star is pictured without one. Enrique Iglesias loves the tea-cosy look, while Justin Timberlake’s curly mop is rarely unveiled thanks to his preference for trilbies. Of course, that could be the influence of his current beau Cameron Diaz, who likes to tip her brim at photographers whenever she’s at a film premiere.
Christina Aguilera has a penchant for the oversized woollen and tweed variety, whereas Paris Hilton, Madonna and Victoria Beckham love the bulky trucker cap. Singer Jay Kay, of course, is never seen without some bizarre and over-sized headgear.
It seems, then, that the hat is officially back – but why? And if we do decide to don trendy head-gear, then what image does our personal hat choice convey?
“Hat wearing is all about membership,” explains
Edinburgh-based chartered psychologist Ben Williams. “It shows membership to certain classes and preferences. For example, some people may wear a brown leather trilby with smart clothes to come across as upper class. Others, like the neds, choose Burberry-patterned baseball caps to make a statement about themselves.
“What’s important in hat wearing today is how you wear it and this says a lot about a person. If it’s worn at the appropriate moment, the appropriate way, then they look good. However, if you wear a hat at a slanted angle then it shows you are trying too hard. Wear it perfectly. And always wear with panache and style.”
But what about the likes of Victoria Beckham, Christina Aguilera and Cameron Diaz who combine casual hats with smart evening wear? Williams says: “These celebrities who wear hats in the wrong way on purpose are trying desperately to make a style statement that they’re unconventional, outgoing and socially confident.
“Wearing something like a baseball cap teamed with smart clothing says: ‘I am rich and expensively dressed . . . but I am still one of the tribe‘. They want to be accepted, but at the same time stand out.”
And the flat cap often seen on Madonna, Robbie Williams and Christina Aguilera? “The flat caps are usually regional items worn by those in Yorkshire, for example,” explains Hannah Spooner,
curator and hat expert of a Hat Works, an hat museum based in Stockport. “It usually means ‘I’m salt of the earth’, but when worn by the likes of Madonna, it’s another ironic take on the hat. It says: ‘I’m so famous that I can still look good in a flat cap’.”
Madonna has always loved wearing different kinds of hats as you can see in the following picture from 1988
From an article by Sarah Howden
Source: Scotsman.com
Scan by: Madonna Tribe
Thanks to Madonna Tribe team member Liz