Celebrating National Hat Day 2022

Posted byRebecca BuddPosted inLadyBudd, National Hat Day, Sunday Evening ReflectionTags:, , ,

National Hat Day was celebrated on January 15, 2022.

There was a time when no one left their homes without a hat.

Over the decades hats have made a slow descent from their peak in the late 1920’s. The usual explanation for the decline is associated with the introduction of public transit and cars. These vehicles offered protection against inclement weather patterns. Hats were no longer required to keep people warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

I love hats! Why not Celebrate them everyday!

But wait! It seems that hats are making a comeback. Yes! Hats have been rediscovered. Fashion is bringing us new hat ideas to consider for 2022!

Hats hold stories.

Consider Winston Churchill’s Homburg, a felt hat with a curved brim and a dent that runs from front to back with a grosgrain ribbon that forms a band.

Who can forget the Stovepipe hat worn by Abraham Lincoln or the Bonnet that sat on top of St. Thomas More’s head.

I loved the Pillbox that Jackie Kennedy wore. Do you remember the watermelon pink pillbox? Sophistication and glamour combined. My mother, Frances, wore a pillbox that I would try on from time to time.

And then there was Teddy Roosevelt with his Panama Hat. I treasure my Panama Hat!

Fedora, Cowboy, Beanie, Baseball Cap, Bowler, Beret and the list goes on and on. There is a hat of every occasion.

Perhaps it is our gracious Queen Elisabeth II that best exemplifies the way in which to wear a hat. She is the epitome of elegance in her vibrant hats.

Happy National Hat Day!

Published by Rebecca Budd

Blogger, Visual Storyteller, Podcaster, Traveler and Life-long Learner

58 thoughts on “Celebrating National Hat Day 2022”

  2. I can’t abide a hat – on my own head anyway. Winter or summer, they make your head sweat and mess up your hair. I’ll just about entertain a beanie in very cold weather, and a sunhat for just a few minutes on exceptionally hot days. And that’s IT.

    Liked by 4 people

    1. You are absolutely right – they do mess up hair! My love of hats came from living in Northern Manitoba, Canada where temperatures reached minus 40C. We though minus 20C was a warm day. Hats were essential as I found out when I decided not to wear a hat. I thought it wasn’t cool to wear a hat and I felt peer pressure. Well, that was a mistake – my ears froze! The “unfreezing” was quite painful. And then the floppy hats came in the late 60’s and early 70’s. So I wore the floppy hat with granny glasses. Now, that was cool.

      Liked by 3 people

      2. You will notice that I live in Vancouver, Margaret. It is the warmest city in Canada apart from Victoria. Sometimes I wish I could feel that bitter cold again and then, quite suddenly that thought passes. Even so, living in the north was a remarkable experience.

        Liked by 2 people

    1. Many thanks for joining us on Burnaby Mountain, Klausbernd. I think National Hat day started in the US, but I don’t have any citing on this. I read that there are records of the day being celebrated at least as far back as 1983. It was originally observed on the third Friday in January, but it switched to being observed on Jan. 15 around 2003.

      There is a “Wear A Hat Day” that will happen in the UK on Friday, March 25.

      “Wear A Hat Day has become a nationally important fundraising and awareness event that people all across the UK (and beyond!) support every year.” https://www.braintumourresearch.org/fundraise/wear-a-hat-day. This the the UK’s biggest brain tumor research fundraising event.

      I have marked my calendar for March 25th!! Sending much love and many hugs to my dear friends The Fab Four of Cley!

      Liked by 1 person

    1. I have a feeling that it is an unofficial celebration that began in the US and we celebrate it in Canada as well. But it does date back to 1983. Here is what I learned today in connection with National Hat Day: I did not know that Saint Clement of Ireland discovered felt when he filled his sandals with flax fibers to protect his feet. I thought this may be a little far-fetched but the legend appears in several places. Thank you for joining me on Burnaby Mountain!!

      Liked by 3 people

  6. I’ve never known there has been a hat day! I wear them in winter, of course, to keep my head and especially my thin spot on my head warm and protected.😉 But in summer I don’t need any hats. Thank you, dear Rebecca, for letting me know something new. Have a lovely week ahead.🤗💖

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I am delighted that you joined me on Burnaby Mountain, Alaedin! It was a cold day and I appreciated that I had a hat with me. I have learned that carrying an umbrella, rather than a hat, with me in the heat of a summer day gives extra protection from the heat, especially during Vancouver’s heat wave this spring.

      Liked by 3 people

    1. Many, many thanks for sharing your post, Marian. It was a pleasure to read and reminded me of great memories. I especially appreciated the tribute to your Mother. My “second” family during my university/college days in Winnipeg Manitoba was Mennonite. I remember those marvelous Sunday afternoon dinners where everyone sat around a huge table. Food was plentiful and conversations were fun and life-affirming. When I was 15, I travelled to British Honduras (now Belize) to visit a families who had moved there from Canada. What a welcoming community. I enjoy following your blog, Marian and look forward to our many conversations.

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      1. The hat is very warm. It has flaps for my ears, in addition to the ears for the monkey. Do you remember the line from “Charlie’s Aunt,” “Where DID you get that hat?” My dad quoted that line at the least provocation!

        Liked by 3 people

    1. I didn’t know about hat days until a few years ago, Dave (I continue to learn). I think I discovered it when I was looking up famous hats in literature. I grew up with the “Cat in the Hat” and the Mad Hatter. Sherlock Holmes was unforgettable in his hat. Catcher in the Rye – remember Holden Caulfield’s red hunting hat?Then come Gandolf’s hat and we cannot forget the Sorting Hat. Hats have personalities and symbolism. I’m glad that they are making a comeback. Thank you so much for joining me on Burnaby Mountain.

      Liked by 3 people

  10. I love hats too. Unfortunately, I don’t look good in too many styles. I have and wear several to protect my face from the sun, and of course I wear beanies in the winter and I have my eye on a fascinator to wear to my son’s wedding this summer. 😀

    Liked by 3 people

    1. I had never heard of a fascinator hat before, Deborah, although when I looked up the term I immediately recognized the type. Many thanks for the introduction. I went on to read that the term fascinator first surfaced in the fashion world in 17th-century Europe (how did I not know this!!). Back then, it referred to a lacy scarf women wrapped, or fastened, around their heads This type of the hat was meant to give women an alluring air of mystery. Congratulations on your son’s wedding this summer. I’m sure that you will look elegant (with an alluring air of mystery) in your fascinator hat!

      Liked by 2 people

  11. As well a most helpful subject. So do I love hats, now more so that I have learned of their practical and healthy purpose. Thus so as in the protection against the winter cold and against the summer piercing sunshine, in this our part of the world, said Canada!

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Thank you for joining me on a sunny, but chilly winter day on Burnaby Mountain, Jean-Jacques. I recently came across a poem by Samuel Johnson that I know that you will enjoy: “On hearing Miss Thrale Consulting with a Friend About a Gown and Hat”. The title is almost longer than the poem.

      Wear the gown and wear the hat,
      Snatch thy pleasures while they last;
      Hadst thou nine lives, like a cat,
      Soon those nine lives would be pass’d.

      Liked by 1 person

  13. I’m watching a series covering the period from 1929 – , we’re watching 1941, the beginning of WWII, and the next and the last season probably ends at the end of WWII. I love all the fashion of hats. My grandkids wear hats every time they go out, to protect from the sun in the summer and the cold in the winter.

    I love your hat. Happy National Hats Day, Rebecca! 🤠👮

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Oh, hats in those years were fabulous. I did a mini research project on Coco Chanel, known to be a lifelong hat wearer. Her hat designs were refined, simple and timeless. I understand that Coco’s style was influenced by the austere simplicity that came from her early years in the orphanage. Then I looked up Elsa Schiaparelli, Coco’s direct competitor and found her hats to be flamboyant, influenced by Surrealists like Salvador Dali and Jean Cocteau. YIKES!!

      Many thanks for joining me on Burnaby Mountain, Miriam! Sending hugs!

      Liked by 1 person

  14. As I come from an older generation, I have watched hats develop from style to style, some especially designed to compliment and accentuate the rest of the attire and some especially made for warmth in freezing temperatures. I recall rushing to country school with heavy stocking caps on, to keep our ears from freezing. My mother invested in a hat even before a new dress so she could be dressed properly for Sunday church services. Women, at least where I lived, wore a hat in church, as a sign of respect. I believe hats ae now coming back into style, I’m sure the designers are happy for that! !

    Liked by 2 people

  16. My mom always told me I had a ‘hat face’. My sister and I had a great variety of hats in our growing up years and hated most of them. Mom was always elegant especially in her navy pillbox with the spotted veil. Nowadays I only wear a peaked cap when out in the sun and think they suit me quite well. I have quite a collection. 😀

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I can just see your lovely mother in her navy pillbox. You and your sister would have been the epitome of elegance and sophistication. My mother Frances, recalls that her mother would invest in a hat even before a new dress. Those were the days!! Thank you for joining me on Burnaby Mountain!

      Liked by 2 people

    1. I have been looking for a Tam o’ Shanter hat especially now that we are soon to be celebrating our dear Rabbie Burns. I read that this flat bonnet, was originally made of wool hand-knitted in one piece and stretched on a wooden disc. Thank you for joining me on top of Burnaby Mountain, where, incidentally the Simon Fraser University Bagpipe Band practice.

      Liked by 2 people

  18. That is a lovely hat, Rebecca, we call them beanies here and they are knitted with wool. I have a few that are in the colours of our national rugby team. It is rarely cold enough here to require a beanie for people who don’t work early in the morning or at night, so I have only used mine when in the UK and Finland.

    Liked by 2 people

  19. I love hats, Rebecca, and they’re quite particular. You can’t just plop one on your head and look stylish. Each one has to fit a face just right. I have baseball caps, winter wool hats, and my forest ranger hat that I love. Lol. Thanks for the fun post. You look stunning in your hat. 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    1. You always make my day pure sunshine. I am now going into the back of my closet to find all my winter hats. I have heard that fashion is going retro and that hats are in vogue. Just this morning I read an article about the Surrealist fashion of Elsa Schiaparelli. I am very interested in her biography and find that she was even more audacious than Coco Channel. Here an Elsa quote: “In difficult times fashion is always outrageous.” So Diana – let’s be outrageous.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. My daughter has a wonderful sense of clothes and fashion, Rebecca. While I tend to look like a bag lady. Lol. I still wear clothes that I got in high school, and that’s if I get dressed at all! You have inspired me to do a little hat shopping. I’m thinking… yellow beanie.

        Liked by 2 people

  20. You are soooo cute in your hat!

    Art Director RB should always have some type of hat.

    Another reason hats “went the way of all flesh”…. hair care products….showers… the luxury of bathing or showering daily, the way washing your hair often with modern products, then styling with blow dryers. It began in the 60’s really.
    Pre 60’s, daily hair care, or even bi-weekly, was not a marketed item. Of course rollers and bobby pins were the grandparents of blow dryers and hot rollers.

    By th 70’s people wanted to show their hair off.
    Marketing made sure of that.

    Pre war & during, most women worked hard. It showed in their hair and hands, However, when they got dressed to go out, even just to a movie, or shopping; they could add their their hat and gloves. Voila, the Contessa!

    Of course it had become a social norm, as well. Men were loathe to give up their hats. It has been said that it was the Kennedy’s…JFK and Bobby who gave men permission to chuck their hats, when the brothers chucked theirs.

    I know hats are making a bit of a comeback. Still, when you wear a hat, and take it off, you may have hat hair.
    I suppose what we need now is a negotiation between hair and hats!
    Surely it can’t have all come down to baseball hats?

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Thank you so much for this information Resa, which makes much more sense than blaming the demise of the hat on cars and public transits. How could transportation create a hat collapse?!!! I did not know about the Kennedy viable. Everyone wanted Farrah Fawcett’s amazing hair style in the 1970’s. AND I remember those marketing promotions for Tame Rinse?

      When we look back into the 20’s we see the fun parts, but you are so right – women were involved in manual labour that required long hours. So a hat and gloves would be an idea way to transform into the Contessa. I especially loved those scarf wrap collar shawls of a la Flapper.

      I found that the older I became, the shorter my hair style, which reduces the the hat hair look.

      I just found a beanie today, reminiscent of the Jazz Age. I LOVED your post and have taken to my Art Director role. Sending many hugs!

      Liked by 2 people

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