Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Shopping Adventures: Turning Heads with Hats!

Fabulous fedoras, brightly coloured berets and woolly wonders – your crowning glory.

Fashion has never been this functional. I love the utilitarian trend that warmed the autumn/winter runways. Hats for every occasion mixed up in a way that defies the tight constraints of yesteryear.

Headgear has evolved. Gone are the days when we only donned them for a day at the races. Now you can integrate the upcoming season’s staple into your daily dress.

Brighten up a dowdy day in the office by wearing a bold coloured beret. For avant-garde style match casual oversized woolly beanies with any elegant ensemble. The best way to finish off the tailored look is to opt for a structured sculpted cap.

Glamour returns and the best way to fake it is with fur. Soften up with a fedora or draw inspiration from our feathered friends for a more haute look.

One of the simplest ways to update your wardrobe for the new season is to purchase an item hot on trend. I was keen to get a head start, so spent the afternoon on the prowl.

Net-a-porter.com had knitted options: a beret from Mulberry at £39 and two chunky beanies from Chloe and Burberry at under £100. The muted tones on offer were not really what I had in mind, so I continued to browse online.

Yoox.com never disappoints and was loaded with pages and pages of options. There were several designer creations priced for any pocket. I loved the lilac Diesel crochet creation at £14 and would definitely splurge on the sculpted fur hat from Nina Ricci.

Oli.co.uk is fast becoming another favourite for stylish solutions. The wide-brimmed 70’s inspired hat I sourced was a mere £25 and the Ted Baker trilby was a treat at £40!

Asos.com was a bit disappointing this time round. They had one or two Mischa inspired crochet caps, but that was all really.

I also came across Beatrice Baker’s website – the couture milliner where you could have hats made to order, or bring in an old one for a new lease on life. Sylvia Fletcher’s range for Lock & Co. Hatters is another one to watch.

asos oversize crochet beanie £10/beatrice baker £95 -£450/burberry £95 net-a-porter/chloe £65 net-a-porter/D&G £40 yoox/debenhams hat £15/DONDUP £42 yoox/Dorothy Perkins £12/Emporio Armani £56 yoox/Eugenia Kim £89 yoox/fox hat adrienne landau $925 instyle mag/Giovi £42 yoox/green fedora topshop £25/gumshoe fedora by anthropologi $48/M&S beret/M&S hat

Eager to try on a few, I headed for Oxford Circus. Topshop was fashion forward as always. Fedoras had made it to their window display already. I was torn between classic black or gorgeous green. At £25 you could have both if you like!

Other high-street stores were not quite on target – the sales assistant at Mango’s said she had seen a woollen one amongst the new stock, as yet unpacked. Miss Selfridge had nothing to show for themselves and Zara was a let down. Dorothy Perkins had a red trilby worth a mention and H&M had an interesting hat set on a mannequin (couldn’t find it on the shop floor though).

House of Frasier offers a lovely range of oversized woollen caps aside from their range of occasion hats. I was also surprised to find some edgy designs amongst the granny hats at Debenham’s - perfect for a friends wedding I was going to in a couple of weeks.

You can always rely on Primark for fantastic bargains. Even I was startled to see their black sculpted cap (very similar to the Nina Ricci one I loved, minus the fur) for an unbelievable £4. That and a beret in every colour (or maybe just the cobalt blue one) had me laughing all the way to the cashiers.

So cheer up fashionistas! Our summer may be rained out but at least we have the perfect excuse to get our hats on!

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