Mademoiselle Colette

Thrilling things often come in small packages – that has never been more true than this autumn at Polly Singer Couture Hats and Veils. Just in time for the holiday party season, we’re unveiling a collection of hats so petite and precious they should be measured in carats.

The seven bewitching new fascinators run the gamut from unabashedly romantic to sophisicated and mysterious. The common characteristic is that each little headpiece packs a head turning punch. In some of the designs, Moulin Rouge and Domino for instance, much of the dazzle is created by the exhuberant interplay of long feathers and lush silk flowers.

Moulin Rouge

With several of the designs, veiling sets the mood —and the moods do vary. In the case of Frappé an ivory bird cage veil whispers innocently of romance. Frappé is popular with brides as a less formal wedding veil, or as a reception headpiece. It also works fabulously well with winter white wool. On quite the opposite end of the spectrum is Kir Royal. A mysterious dark veil, shot with white velvet floats beneath rich black trims and violet velvet. Tutti Frutti owes it’s whimsical appeal to an amusing chin length veil across which candy colored dots play giving the illusion of a constant shower of confetti.

Frappè

Kir Royale

Tutti Frutti

All of these designs play well with a little black dress. Moulin Rouge and Grenadine Fizz take advantage of crimson’s affinity for black and white. Moulin Rouge brings the glamor of a casino to basic black. More playful, yet every bit as eye catching is Grenadine Fizz with its wisp of a veil and sassy scarlet and white trim.

Grenadine Fizz

Crème de Menthe is a study in movement and vivid color. Among the dancing black feathers iridescent peacock spires glimmer, working their timeless magic.

Creme de Menthe

These charming little hats range in price from $190. to $250. and are brilliant at breathing new life into last year’s party dress. The right fascinator can transform an otherwise conservative ensemble into a stunning holiday look. This Thanksgiving, I refuse to go over the river and through the woods dressed like a pilgrim. This sweet whimsey in Cocoa guarantees that I won’t be upstaged by a turkey. Whether you want to be the girl in the limelight or the mysterious siren of the shadows I encourage you to consider a fascinator. In fact, you might as well take two —remember, they’re small.

photo by Elaine Shay

By Jan Masters Yon

Note: We enjoy hearing from readers and invite your comments. My email address is jan@hatsandveils.net. Polly may be reached at polly@hatsandveils.net. We both look forward to your input.

The post Holiday Fascinator: a spoonful of fun appeared first on Polly Singer.

I walk without flinching through the burning cathedral of the summer.
~Violette Leduc, Mad in Pursuit

Labor Day officially brings the curtain down on my favorite season; fortunately, there are, in Kentucky at least, 3 more weeks of Indian summer, I plan to revel in every hot, humid, sticky moment.

However reluctant I am to let go of summer, I understand that it is time to put away the white accessories. White shoes, you can have them. I inherited my father’s extremely long feet. Daddy claims to be able to span a piano keyboard octave with his big toe and pinky toe. How does he know this? Why would he admit this? One would hope one’s father would show a little more dignity. I don’t know about you, but I smell bourbon. Anyway, whatever talents come with the ancestral feet, our boats are too long for white shoes any time of the year. Otherwise, I’m sure I would have gone on to do well at Wimbleton.

White hats, on the other hand…This was the year for white hats. The summer was hot and so were light colored straws. When we were there in July, New York was a sea of Panama hats. The story of the Panama hat is interesting in that it begins with a punch line. Where did the Panama hat originate? Pay attention, this could be a trick question — along the lines of who’s buried in Grant’s Tomb. The Panama Hat, actually originated in and continues to be produced in Ecuador. During the gold rush of the mid 1800’s, prospectors flocked to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama. There they purchased hats imported from Ecuador. At that time, the hats came to be known by the name of their point of purchase rather than their place of origin. In any event, the Panama hat, which by rights should be known as “The Ecuador Hat”, became very popular.

One unwitting promoter of this style hat was President Theodore Roosevelt who appeared in the newspaper wearing a fino. The news photo catapulted the Panama into the spot of “must have accessory” of the day. In 1925 Turkey banned the fez and mandated the use of Panama hats. By 1944 the Panama had become Ecuador’s primary export.

A Panama hat is made from toquilla, a strong supple fiber harvested from a palm-like plant found in Ecuador’s coastal lowlands. The Ecuadorian artisans are considered to be among the world’s finest weavers. The weave of a high quality Panama is said to be so tight that the hat can be used to transport water. One top grade hat can take months to weave and when finished, is pressed at least 5 times to set it’s shape.

Like the top hat (see post “More on Top Hats” ) the Panama hat is traditionally worn by men –the coolest of men, I might add. Humphrey Bogart, Claude Rains, Charlie Chan, Sean Connery and Mick Jagger to name a few. If Sam Sheppard and Liam Neeson don’t have them, I’d be surprised. Atticus Finch wore one in To Kill a Mockingbird, Rhett Butler in Gone With the Wind. Before this summer’s unisex Panama hat boom, one would occasionally find a woman in the cool cool shade of a Panama. Madonna, Lauren Bacall, and Whitney Houston have been spotted in them. Sarah Jessica Parker wore a Panama style fedora by Hermes in last year’s Sex and the City Movie. (see post Sex and the City and the Hats).

Madonna can pull off a man’s hat because she’s Madonna. For those who seek the ex-pat look in a more traditionally feminine style I suggest, Symphony in White or, for an even more feminine style, Purely Elegant, Summer Wedding or our most popular Simply Elegant have the tropical feel as well as romantic lines. If you’re so lucky as to be escorted by a man sporting a Panama hat, any of these designs perfectly completes the picture.

I don’t deny summer is drawing to a close, however I refuse to let it go easily. I for one, plan to be dragged into autumn wearing a cool white hat; screaming for iced tea and kicking my great big long bare feet.

by Jan Masters Yon

The post The Guys in the White Hats appeared first on Polly Singer.

Turnout matters.

To me, a visit to the paddock is worth fighting the crowds, for, in addition to supporting to my persistent (though erroneous) belief that I’m a good judge of horseflesh, I derive pleasure from admiring the grooms’ art. Beautifully conditioned, impeccably turned out thoroughbreds simply radiate breeding and care.

I’m conviced that, with a regime of customized nutrition, daily exercise and the tender ministrations of professional grooms, I too would dazzle . Well, it’s too late to do much about the nutrition and exercise but here are are few grooming tips that will help you sparkle on Derby Day.

Use moisturizer and/or foundation with sunblock. A bright red nose might be attributed to Mint Juleps. ( Juleps bear responsibility for enough shenanigans as it is.) Remember, any sunblock you carry into Churchill Downs must be in a plastic container.

Before Derby Day, apply the cosmetics you plan to use, put on your hat, and step outside with a mirror. Hat color will definitely effect the tone of your complexion. Large areas of color near the face reflect onto and tint the face. Color interaction is also a factor. Do you remember the color wheels we made in middle school art class? When predicting how one hue will affect another, think complements. The complement to purple is yellow, thus a lavender hat will make your face look more sallow. A green hat will bring out warm tones in the skin. Sunlight filtering through the brim of a hat is another factor in how we preceive color. Rose tones is a perfect example. Pink hats do wonderful, age defying things to a woman’s complexion. I still don’t know which color dress I’ll wear to Derby, but I can tell you this, my hat will be pink. Check out your make up with the hat, you may find that some adjustments, a warmer or cooler foundation, more or less blush, may be in order.

As mentioned above, step out in the sunlight with your mirror. Yes, I know this can be painful for a woman of a certain age, I recommended it all the same. We’re all hoping Derby Day will be sunny and clear. However the kind of day that brings us a fast track also has unforgiving lighting. Strong natural light calls for the sheerest foundation possible. If you need more coverage, make sure the finish is well blended, flawless. I’m younger than Dracula yet still at an age where I’d rather avoid mirrors and sunlight altogether, however, I do want to see the make-up, flaws and all, before anyone else does. Be brave, move toward the light.

By the same token, work with your hair and your hat before the morning of the Derby. Experiment with pinning bangs out of the way, straightening or curling the hair that shows beneath your hat. This is a good place to mention that, while the label sewn inside your hat band indicates what the milliner considers to be the back of the hat, don’t be a slave to labels, experiment, often the hat will look better rotated. Anyway, what do milliners know? By the time Derby rolls around,they’re all mad as hatters anyway.

In the realms of thoroughbred racing and ballet, two of my favorite worlds, turnout matters.

by Jan Masters Yon

The post Derby Tip of the Week appeared first on Polly Singer.

But when it’s time to be discreet
There’s one thing
you just can’t beat
And that’s a strapless backless classical little black dress
Richard Hartley, Shock Treatment

Audrey Hepburn knew it, as did Betty Boop and Edith Piaf. Clearly Mme. Gautreau, the subject of John Singer Sargent’s portrait of Madame X knew it; that is, the inestimable value of the Little Black Dress.

 

Throughout the Edwardian and Victorian eras black as a choice for ladies’ apparel was reserved for those in full mourning. It was French fashion designer Coco Chanel who, in the 1920’s, established black as a fashion choice. Gabrielle  Coco Chanel, a designer of great vision and practicality intended the black dress to be versatile, long lasting and available to the widest possible market. In 1926 Chanel published a picture of a short, simple black dress in Vogue. Vogue called it Chanel’s Ford.  Like the Model T, the little black dress was simple and accessible for most social classes. As Vogue predicted variations on this simple black garment would become a sort of uniform for all women of taste.

 

Today the LBD, as it has become known, is considered essential to a complete wardrobe, and under dire conditions, say while traveling light, can be a complete wardrobe in itself. Living in New York as a busy and often broke young woman, I soon learned which garment would carry me from the office to the opera with very little fuss. One year I wore the same black dress to wedding receptions as on a night train journey across Kenya. It was simply a matter of exchanging pearls and heels for elephant hair bracelets and espadrilles.

The beauty of a sleek, well cut black dress is that it becomes a blank palette for the art of accessorizing. One of the best elements to play off of a black dress is a dramatic hat. Case in point, the simple black de Givenchy sheath worn with a wide brimmed hat by actress Audrey Hepburn in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”.

 

This spring All You Need is Love Hats and Veils (now Polly Singer) was deluged by requests for black hats. Ascot 2008 proved so popular that the design was temporarily removed from the collection for fear that every third woman at the Derby might be wearing the same hat. Like an elegant black dress, a black hat provides the perfect back-drop for color and trim. This Derby season, commentator Nancy Cox wore Blithe Spirit, a dramatic black hat banked in yellow silk roses. Our own First Lady Jane Beshear chose a small black hat trimmed in robin’s egg blue.

 

Newscaster Nancy Cox

Dress it up or dress it down The Little Black dress is the work horse of a wardrobe. As Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor, once said, “When a little black dress is right, there is nothing else to wear in its place.”

by Jan Masters Yon

The post Little Black Dress appeared first on Polly Singer.