Those Glorious Hats

by Sandra Wilkins

Recently, I went to a writer’s conference with a friend of mine.  She is unabashedly one of those “hat people”, and it was great fun for her to snap photos of other hat wearing fashionistas. 

          I have to confess that I’m a closet hat aficionado.  I love the way they look on other people, but with my hairstyle I just get smashed bangs.  And, I don’t feel I have to panache to carry it off either. 

          It takes guts to wear a fashionable hat nowadays, but it wasn’t so in the past.  I think that’s one of the reasons why I like to write about the Victorian and Edwardian time periods—the wonderful clothes and fabulous headwear.  Hats were more than an accessary.  They were part of you.  It can even be part of the story.  In my first sweet historical romance, Ada’s Heart, I used that idea:  “The trolley stopped, and a few passengers climbed aboard.  The last woman was hidden behind a big black hat.  He knew, even before he saw her face, that it was Ada.”  It was fun for me to include part of a character’s wardrobe into the story. 

          But, it’s not only the women who don those wonderful hats.  Admit it, ladies, doesn’t your heart flutter at the image of a confident man in a cowboy hat?  Or maybe you prefer the tilt of a fedora or the grandeur of a silk top hat?  Whatever the style, it’s been greatly appreciated throughout the ages.

          I’m not sure why there is such mystique and romance surrounding those accessories worn on the head, but as cowboy poet Baxter Black explained—it’s not so glorious to write about the exploits of a dirty sock.

       Sandra Wilkins is busy writing another series while home educating her two daughters.  Ada’s Heart, Rose’s Hope and Gwen’s Honor are her first three published wholesome historical romances.  Go to www.sandrawilkins.com to find out more about her and her books.