I collected a pink floppy hat, a black painter\u2019s cap, a blue fedora,
and a vintage beige hat with a blossom on the brim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCynthia-Ann! Where\u2019s your hat?\u201d I can still hear my mother\u2019s voice, catching me mid-stride, while trying to slip out of the house in winter\u2019s cold minus my headgear. She always caught me. I remember waiting with impatience as she pulled the woolen hat down over my ears and sent me out the door to school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I hated hats. They never looked right. The \u201ccool kids on the block\u201d did not wear hats. Once I reached teen status, my dislike of hats coupled with adolescent attitude and rebellion. Yes, I wore the hat out the door. But as soon as I wound around the corner and out of view, off went the hat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I held to this strong aversion for many years until a curious thing happened. I found myself \u2026 liking hats. It started with fun straw hats of summertime bliss. So many styles and shapes to choose from and an added benefit; they helped shield the eyes from bright sunlight. I discovered great headgear at a boardwalk sale in Long Beach, New York. I spent time and money at the hat booth that day, more than I planned on. Perhaps the lovely background of the ocean waves and beach atmosphere lured me in. All I know is, I left with several hats and a lighter purse. Panamas with flexible brims. Stiff boater hats. Wonderful floppy hats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so, it began – my hat obsession. Summer, Autumn, Winter, and Spring. Straw hats and fabric ribbon bedecked. I collected a pink floppy hat, a black painter\u2019s cap, a blue fedora, and a vintage beige hat with a blossom on the brim. My husband gifted me with an expensive Saratoga hat complete with a leopard print ribbon and extravagant bow. My collection continued to increase: an auburn colored hat, a wine hued cloche, a tan one with a fat ribbon and shiny buckle. Tweed newsboy, crushable hats, fancy Derby hats, organza trimmed. At last count, I probably have about 50 hats. I guess you could say I no longer hate hats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wore a big floppy hat, with navy and tan stripes and a wide brim while on vacation in East Hampton one summer. My husband and I and my girlfriend were wandering through Westhampton one evening and mingling with the rich and famous. The hat definitely played into my confidence. And my husband\u2019s comment made me laugh. \u201cDid you hear what that woman just said?\u201d he asked. \u201cShe was trying to get by you, and you didn\u2019t notice. She mentioned something about those rich snobs from the Hamptons with their huge showy hats.\u201d The hat had raised me to Hampton status!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Summer styles eventually lead back into winter, offering new types of hats to ward off the chill. When cold weather arrives in my Northeast climate, I\u2019m ready. I don my snug winter hat, trusting my mother\u2019s great advice about keeping the head warm. Woolen caps and berets to match with winter coats and jackets in all shades of the rainbow. Though Mother\u2019s voice is far off in the distance now, I imagine her saying, \u201cCynthia-Ann, where\u2019s your\u2026oh! Look at that great hat! I\u2019m so proud of you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m stylin\u2019 now, and with a confident step and my latest hat pinned with a sparkling jewel, I smile realizing that I AM one of the cool kids on the block!<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I collected a pink floppy hat, a black painter\u2019s cap, a blue fedora,and a vintage beige hat with a blossom on the brim. \u201cCynthia-Ann! Where\u2019s your hat?\u201d I can still […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_gspb_post_css":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","footnotes":""},"essay_type":[46],"essay-category":[],"class_list":["post-19070","essay","type-essay","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","essay_type-features"],"blocksy_meta":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/essay\/19070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/essay"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/essay"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/essay\/19070\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"essay_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/essay_type?post=19070"},{"taxonomy":"essay-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/essay-category?post=19070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}