Old Hat

The trend in the last few weeks has been to bring in a hat found in the bottom of the closet, to have it refurbished.  For those of you who remember, it's also called "updating".

     When hats were hotter than they are now, and you had more than two in your life, it was important to show off  the latest style.  To do that, and not spend more money on another hat, some people brought it into their milliner to have it re-blocked, re-designed, re-created......in short, done over.  During the WWII years, this was the norm, as it had been during the Great Depression.  You took Granmother's hat out of the dusty attic, and used it to recreate a copy of the latest French styles.

Nowadays, while we're in the throes of a depression, but not quite there yet, a little hat can uplift and change your mood.  Time to look in the back of the closet, raid your Mothers wardrobe, or run to a thrift store, and get a hat.  It should have some basic elements necessary to change it: it must be made from quality materials.  It should be sewn, and not glued together, and it should not be too dirty.  Squashed is okay; run over by a muddy truck isn't.

Cleaning a good felt is usually possible, but a straw that has grit embedded in it's fibers becomes a problem child.  Nothing is impossible, but the realm of possibilities can be limited, depending upon the hat.

We take no offense to being called upon to restore these poor crushed beauties.  After all, we want hats out there in the world, singing, and dancing.  Not hidden in the backs of closets.  Bring them out, hie them hither, and allow us to let them be reborn.