the hat thing

Posted on May 29, 2013 by carla

A friend asked me this morning if I was going to Ladies’ Hat Day at Devon this year. Last year I had returned to the event after years of not being able to go due to work conflicts. But oh my word, remember the dust-up when I commented on how I did not care for ready to wear taxidermy and salad bowls? Yikes!

Unfortunately, that left a bad taste in my mouth and while I appreciate all the work the lovely women of the Ladies’ Hat Day Committee put into a truly beautiful event I find a lot of who goes these days not so beautiful. So I will skip it this year.

Today once again, Ladies’ Hat Day will be on a day that is a scorcher. I hope they have a lovely event. But the traditionalist in me misses the hat days when salad bowls and taxidermy were left in cupboards and on walls, respectively.

Back in the day my friends and I did a lot of steeplechase and what not (Point to Point, Willowdale, Virginia Gold Cup, FoxFields just to name a few) so we have always done hats. Hats are an art form. To me art should be beautiful and sorry I did not get some of those hats last year.

As a personal choice I also am one who appreciates more traditional hats as I think there is nothing so lovely (think about the fabulous hats worn by women like Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly). I just don’t get the ones that I would reserve for Halloween…to each their own, quite simply not my cup of tea.

Stay cool today at Devon and I hope everyone enjoys the Ladies’ Hat Day!

hatabulous

Posted on May 30, 2012 by carla

Sometimes the backs of hats are more fun than the fronts to look at…

devon horse show ladies’ day hat contest & tea 2012

Posted on May 30, 2012 by carla

Today I was a lady who lunched. I went to the Ladies’ Day Tea at Devon Horse Show. I arrived too late for the actual hat parade and contest, but the flora and fauna were out in fine feathers….some literally feathers, yes.

Enjoy the photos…I loved a lot of the hats, saw a lot of familiar faces, met some new ladies.

I will admit that some of the fascinators were more than fascinating and a couple made me check the wall when I came home to see if that Pheasant was still hanging there. I guess my issue with the birds of it all is that to me, a Pheasant is a fall bird, not a spring one. To me, those hats, were just taxidermy run amok. But to each their own, perhaps my beautiful and more traditional black summer straw hat wasn’t to their liking, either.

There was also a tossed salad on a hat….and a very red cocktail dress before 5 p.m. There was a little bit of everything, and a dash of this and that. Fun people watching.

We each got a nifty gift bag with a bunch of fun stuff, including cute earrings from Lisi Lerch. The jazz ensemble is a group I actually heard in Sanatoga at a restaurant called Cutillos.

Saw society photogs doing their thing – Susan Scovill (and Susan’s photos from the preview of this event, held this past March, can be found HERE), Maggie Henry Corcoran, and Hugh E Dillon of PhillyChitChat who was there taking photos for Philadelphia Magazine. There were also a million other cameras there, some shooting for the Devon Horse Show and I am not sure where else. Bill Henley was there from NBC10.

It was like being in a room of exotic birds as there were hats and dresses of every hue and shade. I ended up having a terrific time. To be honest, I wasn’t so sure in the beginning because I used to attend a lot of things like this, but I only go to occasional events now. And when you are out of practice, it can be a tough room, especially with all that estrogen running around in a confined space. But once the room settled in I saw many friends and had a delightful morning and early afternoon.