Hats as Decoration (or Not)

Hats are lovely to look at. Many are one-of-a-kind handmade works of art, so it's no surprise that people want to display them. The internet is bursting with articles in which people extol the beauty of arraying your hats on a wall instead of art. 

For me, though, there's a problem: hats fade.  I have seen too many hats in antique and thrift stores that have that washed-out, uneven look of a hat exposed to too much sunshine.

I even own a few.  The Orange Ribbon and Cello Straw Beret, which was purchased online, arrived with the band a deeper orange than the top, as if it had been hung on the wall--the outward-facing top faded, while the band, curled under and protected from the sun, did not.  And the once green hat a friend got for free at a garage sale has faded so much it appears white, except for the green veil, which was obviously less prone to fading. 

​Mind you, I am not perfect. I have so many hats I don't have room to store all of them boxed up. So I hang some on some hooks behind the door in the spare bedroom.  Most of these hats are modern hats, not particularly rare or valuable, so I feel less bad about exposing them to the limited amount of light that makes it back there. But, as you can see, the jumble of hats is a far cry from the artful displays on Pinterest. 

Longtime blog readers will recognize most of these hats.  There is only one up there that has not been featured in The Hat Project--maybe I'll write that hat's story one of these days.

Another way I display hats is on the hat stand I own. The stand operates as a staging area. I often place the next hat I'm planning to wear there for easy access. Hats sit on the stand for other reasons too. For example, the giant black hat is so big it doesn't fit in even my largest hat box and spent several weeks on the hat stand while I tried to decide what to do with it (it ended up in big plastic bag on a closet shelf).

​Here's how the stand looks right now:

Turbo fans of this blog might notice that I have never worn this hat.  It was in a load of hats from a friend, and though I like the shape, it has some condition issues. I have to decide whether to wear it as-is, try to address the problems, or give up on it and pass it along. 

Hats on the stand are exposed to some sunlight, but the hat stand is always a temporary destination. 

So, what prompted this blog?  After all my protestations, I bought a vintage hat simply to display. And worse, it's not even indoors, but outdoors where it will be prey to sun, wind, and dirt. I know I am basically choosing to destroy this old hat that has survived for decades. But the hat was not in pristine condition and was perfect for what I wanted.

A couple of years ago, I got the idea that I would like to use a wire dress form in my yard. I'd seen a few in antique stores and, the same way I made planters from a bird cage and a typewriter, I thought I could make a succulent display on a wire dress form. Then I came to my senses. I have a birdcage flower planter because the deer eat EVERYTHING. To them, succulents are...succulent. 

But I could use silk flowers So, I kept my eyes peeled in antique stores until I found what I was looking for about two years ago (the picture is from the day I brought it home).

My vision was to cover it in yellow and white daisies, but the wire itself was so cute, I only ended up putting on flower accents.  Instead of the yard, I put it on the porch. And for the finishing touch, I ordered a straw hat to decorate and put on top.

Only problem was, my dress form is child-sized, making the cheap straw hat I bought way too big.  Ever since then, I have been on the lookout for a child's hat to complete the dress form that sits on my porch.  And a few days ago, on one of my walks, I spied a small hat through an antique store window.  I went inside and tried it on to make sure that yes, it was a child's hat and not an adult's.  It is made of rows of lace and topped with artificial flowers.

The lace has yellowed quite a bit, the ribbons are not pristine, and the hat is slightly misshapen. Given all that, and its cheap ($13.00) price, I thought I could put it on my form.  

​It's not like me to sacrifice an old hat, but I'm doing it, and enjoying the results this spring.​