hussein's hats

As soon as the word 'hat' appears in conversation i always have the same flashback to when i was 8 and bought a beige cord baker-boy hat which i wore (not kidding), with a purple sparkly top with draped sleeves and a denim skirt *shudder*. And since then i've been a little afraid of embracing hats of any sort. I love the androgynous look of a chic bowler pieced with simple layers such as a sheer blouse and leggings, but i only ever love it on other people, but never myself.

So when i was flicking through the catwalk supplement supplied with Febuary's Vogue (don't you just love them? They are perfect aid for shopping selectively for the season) i was rather surprised when i found myself intrigued about a luminous yellow headpeice by Hussein Chalayan (are you proud i'm getting over my colour phobia?!).

Hussein is a designer that has impressed me for two seasons (as it was during my infactuation of black-on-black dressing, and A/W 08 was quite simply my style rolled into one), and these hats really are something quite special to look at. His "car crash" theme (latex cocktail dresses that seemed to be "frozen in aerodynamic motion", models walking on revolving plate etc, etc) carried through to the hats. I imagine they are meant to be puffs of coloured exhaust fumes, almost photographically caught whilst suspended in air and re-created through hatwear. Anyway, they are simply beautiful, and so cleverly engineered that they almost look like delicate origami sculptures. Can you not see the white one worn at a wedding by a fashionable bride?