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The fascinator is dead … long live proper hats The fascinator is dead … long live proper hats
(5 months later)
Hold on to your fascinator … well, no don't, actually: the news from the fashion industry is that they're over. Milliner to the stars Philip Treacy has declared it so – and he should know how to gauge a mood, given public reaction to the so-called "Teletubby hat" he created for Princess Beatrice on the occasion of the royal wedding in 2011.Hold on to your fascinator … well, no don't, actually: the news from the fashion industry is that they're over. Milliner to the stars Philip Treacy has declared it so – and he should know how to gauge a mood, given public reaction to the so-called "Teletubby hat" he created for Princess Beatrice on the occasion of the royal wedding in 2011.
"The fascinator is dead, and I'm delighted," he said. "The word … sounds like a dodgy sex toy … We're seeing a return to proper hats.""The fascinator is dead, and I'm delighted," he said. "The word … sounds like a dodgy sex toy … We're seeing a return to proper hats."
Those in the know have been curling their lips at fascinators for years already, of course. But with the twin evils of Aintree and Ascot close at hand – not to mention wedding season gathering pace – it's a relief to be able to speak it aloud. The fascinator is dead; long live headgear that doesn't look like you made it at home with a glue-gun.Those in the know have been curling their lips at fascinators for years already, of course. But with the twin evils of Aintree and Ascot close at hand – not to mention wedding season gathering pace – it's a relief to be able to speak it aloud. The fascinator is dead; long live headgear that doesn't look like you made it at home with a glue-gun.
Understandably, Treacy (who has hatted the likes of Grace Jones and Lady Gaga) has long been a vocal propagandist for headgear, as have others in his profession – the illustrious Stephen Jones, the avant-garde Piers Atkinson, super-cool rebel Nasir Mazhar. They have to be, to preserve an industry that could have foundered when City gents cast off their bowlers and the ladies discovered Vidal Sassoon, who is credited with displacing the hat from our quotidian with his directional, engineered 'dos in the 60s.Understandably, Treacy (who has hatted the likes of Grace Jones and Lady Gaga) has long been a vocal propagandist for headgear, as have others in his profession – the illustrious Stephen Jones, the avant-garde Piers Atkinson, super-cool rebel Nasir Mazhar. They have to be, to preserve an industry that could have foundered when City gents cast off their bowlers and the ladies discovered Vidal Sassoon, who is credited with displacing the hat from our quotidian with his directional, engineered 'dos in the 60s.
But it didn't founder – because the Brits love a hat. That's partly what got us into this awkward fascinator situation. We'll jump at any excuse to jazz ourselves up, piling it on at the drop of a … oh.But it didn't founder – because the Brits love a hat. That's partly what got us into this awkward fascinator situation. We'll jump at any excuse to jazz ourselves up, piling it on at the drop of a … oh.
The difference is, "proper hats" are exotic, and often prohibitively expensive. And quite rightly: they take a lot of work, a lot of love, a lot of ribbon and, surprisingly for some perhaps, a lot of physics. Hatters and milliners are architects of the head – what they can create often surpasses wildest imagination, let alone boring old gravity.The difference is, "proper hats" are exotic, and often prohibitively expensive. And quite rightly: they take a lot of work, a lot of love, a lot of ribbon and, surprisingly for some perhaps, a lot of physics. Hatters and milliners are architects of the head – what they can create often surpasses wildest imagination, let alone boring old gravity.
The fascinator was a democratic solution for the wary and those without the wherewithal to commission a full-blown Andie MacDowell number. There's nothing wrong with that at all. But it's a sad story of the bland and inoffensive becoming offensive in itself: anything mass-produced is naff after a while – especially when such a thing becomes so closely associated with bad taste jamborees like Ladies' Day. And fascinators are so uniform and unimaginative as to be just a bit of a cop-out. Even the Duchess of Cambridge, the patron saint of safe dressers, wears hats now.The fascinator was a democratic solution for the wary and those without the wherewithal to commission a full-blown Andie MacDowell number. There's nothing wrong with that at all. But it's a sad story of the bland and inoffensive becoming offensive in itself: anything mass-produced is naff after a while – especially when such a thing becomes so closely associated with bad taste jamborees like Ladies' Day. And fascinators are so uniform and unimaginative as to be just a bit of a cop-out. Even the Duchess of Cambridge, the patron saint of safe dressers, wears hats now.
Granted, there's something very winning and girlish about decorating your bonce with fronds and cutesy ribbons – don't think I don't see the appeal. But there needs to be a sense of balance to it. That's what a milliner does: he weighs up your Hapsburg chin and your unfortunate nose, and he offsets them with a flourish here, a feather there. There's something so dismal about a headband with three quills stuck to it, jutting up at an aggressive right angle from your parting, or limply dangling over one ear.Granted, there's something very winning and girlish about decorating your bonce with fronds and cutesy ribbons – don't think I don't see the appeal. But there needs to be a sense of balance to it. That's what a milliner does: he weighs up your Hapsburg chin and your unfortunate nose, and he offsets them with a flourish here, a feather there. There's something so dismal about a headband with three quills stuck to it, jutting up at an aggressive right angle from your parting, or limply dangling over one ear.
We deserve more – so you'll be pleased to know the high street has really upped its game in the millinery arena since our relationship with the fascinator soured. Better yet, hire a fabulous one for your special occasion so you don't have to worry about storage.We deserve more – so you'll be pleased to know the high street has really upped its game in the millinery arena since our relationship with the fascinator soured. Better yet, hire a fabulous one for your special occasion so you don't have to worry about storage.
A real hat is a real statement of intent. And yes, they're also difficult to pull off. Some of us have the wrong sort of face; some of us are too humble; some of us realised a long time ago that, in the modern era, any hat that doesn't warm your ears or stop your nose from burning, translates roughly as "LOOK AT ME, OH PLEEEEEASE LOOK AT ME".A real hat is a real statement of intent. And yes, they're also difficult to pull off. Some of us have the wrong sort of face; some of us are too humble; some of us realised a long time ago that, in the modern era, any hat that doesn't warm your ears or stop your nose from burning, translates roughly as "LOOK AT ME, OH PLEEEEEASE LOOK AT ME".
This was at the heart of the rise, and the fall, of the fascinator: a statement, yes, but a safe one. And that is why they earned the opprobrium of the style set so early on. Why should a statement be safe? You need only consider some of fashion's great hat-wearers to realise that bold is always better: Marie Antoinette, Arthur Brown, Isabella Blow. Do you really think any of them would touch a fascinator?This was at the heart of the rise, and the fall, of the fascinator: a statement, yes, but a safe one. And that is why they earned the opprobrium of the style set so early on. Why should a statement be safe? You need only consider some of fashion's great hat-wearers to realise that bold is always better: Marie Antoinette, Arthur Brown, Isabella Blow. Do you really think any of them would touch a fascinator?
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