What Hat I Want to Be Wearing When I'm Discovered...
Actually, I like to think I'm already discovered...by me. That's the most important find, don't you think? Who cares if an agent chases you down while you're crossing the street, or encounters you while you're in line at the bank (Charlize Theron) or hanging out at the drugstore (1940s starlets), or nowadays shrieking on YouTube (Lonelygirl). Isn't it good enough just to be able to look in the mirror and say, "You...you're a star"? I'll bet a handful of almonds it does.

But my bag of Trader Jo's almonds is almost empty (or should I say it's 1/8 full?). As much as I'm really big on not relying on other people to validate you, I have to say I'm enchanted on how this girl was discovered by the Sartorialist. I daresay it's because of the hat she's wearing. She wouldn't have stood out otherwise. She'd just be another stylish local. When I was in the Big Apple recently I wondered how to catch the Sarto's elusive attention. As it was, I was too busy inside to spend that much of it outdoors which is where this popular fashion photographer spends his time capturing his subjects on film. But if I had my druthers (and I often do) I'd wear something playful, something not too serious. A chapeau that I could continue to wear if something awful happened in my favorite Eastern city (and you need to prepared. A tornado could blow through Manhattan.) I don't think you could go wrong with a cocktail hat. Something with veiling though to give it mystery. Netting is so alluring, glamorous and incomprehensible to the average passerby. Not to Sarto aka Scott. If you were anywhere near his radar, he'd snap your photograph in a New York Minute. I'm thinking an apple-themed hat would be perfect to wear. Maybe even with a faux worm hanging off of it. I'd stitch it myself, of course. What hat would you wear in New York City?

A hat a day keeps
the physician away?

I'm am beginning to think that way since shaggy suede hat has saved the day more than once in the past few days. My luggage ran away from me as I was leaving New York; United has taken its time retrieving my baby so I've been left sitting here with no good make-up. Yes, I have blushes, potions and lotions that I no longer like sitting in my cabinet, but I can't use that stuff to Look Good, can I? I just made do slathering on the generic sunscreen from Walgreens. I feel so naked without my favorite foundation and mascara. I feel positively pale so I've hidden myself under my hat...and I somehow still got a compliment from a guy in a baseball cap. He followed me as I leaving the subway in downtown Chicago yesterday in that shy "How do I tell her she looks good?" sort of way - you know when a guy wants to say something nice to you but doesn't quite know how to approach you? Well, he finally said, "I really like your hat!" as I was about to board a bus. That made my day considering I know I wasn't looking my best.
Beep! Oh, that's United. Back in a minute. Hurrah, my suitcase is here. Praise be the Lord, and I really don't talk that way. But I do feel some Hail Marys and Our Fathers are in order here. I feel like I have my life back. Now I'll have to ensure everything is inside. I've been looking for the scarf that matches my hat. Fingers double crossed, it's inside my luggage.
Anyway, while I'm creating a laundry pile in my entryway, here's a picture from the Big Apple. The sole photo to make it home on my digital camera. It's Kashi and I at Metro Textiles. I'm wearing a shrug I made from a 1 1/4 yards of a flamestitch knit from Vogue Fabrics. Got to go find that too. Ciao for now!

Shaggy Suede
Hat Goes
To The Big Apple

In the first photo you see my owner and I in front of the New York Public Library. Nice shot, eh? I swear Mary Beth wore me just about everywhere last year, although she did seem to take me off inside restaurants and bathrooms and apparently Mood Fabrics as you can see from the next photograph. I adore New York because you see lots of hats there, so I feel very at home, not like Chicago where fashionable chapeau are like stray coyotes in Subway shops. Now I only wish I could have seen my peers during Easter in New York. From what Mary Beth (who also made me by the way) sees on The Sartorialist it was quite a show.
So I'm quite excited about returning to the Big Apple. I just wish you-know-who would wash me before she escorts me to the airport. At least she's not wearing that fake tan stuff anymore. It just rubs off on ME! Ugh, I really don't like make up.
My biggest fear, though, is that my maker will befriend other hats and start wearing them more. And you know in New York City that's easy to do. Lots of hats in the windows. And Mary Beth keeps talking about visiting Manny's Millinery. One day I'm afraid she's going to say, "I'm tired of wearing my shaggy suede hat. I'm looking predictable!" I already know she's going to stop taking me on her adventures when it starts getting really warm. I mean, I've been a good friend. I've kept her head warm when it's been really cold, fought with Mr. Sun to keep his rays at bay so Mary Beth can keep her complexion blotch-free. Not only that, but all these guys walk by her and say, "Nice hat." THAT wouldn't happen if I weren't around. Am I being unreasonable or what?